Skimming Device Found on Ticket Machine at Grand Central: Police

Police say they've recovered a credit card-skimming device from a Metro-North ticket machine at Grand Central Terminal, the latest in a series of investigations into the information-stealing equipment targeting public transit customers.

An MTA maintenance employee found the skimming device in a Metro-North ticket machine at around noon on May 12, and investigators determined it had been installed at 6 a.m. that day. Because none of the information had yet been downloaded, no one was victimized, authorities said.

Police disabled the device and put it back, waiting for the suspect to return to retrieve it. A suspect, 43-year-old Madalin Soren Satruc of Woodside, was caught on Wednesday evening. 

Charges were not immediately clear, and attorney information wasn't available. 

Officials said this particular skimming device appeared to be more sophisticated and natural-looking than ones found in the past: it was made of metal, like the real card slots on the ticket machines, and was slimmer in shape.

Police are searching for another Romanian national suspected of installing a skimming device at a LIRR station in Baldwin. Authorities are also continuing to investigate a skimming device found on a MetroCard machine at the Columbus Circle subway station last month. 

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