Dumpster-diving thieves are gleaning sensitive financial information from documents tossed by some of Manhattan’s richest residents — and the identity theft is creating a citywide spike in grand larceny, The Post has learned.
The high-tech hoods are plucking bank-account and credit-card statements from Upper East Side trash cans and using the information to create bogus savings and checking accounts, open up lines of credit and sometimes even transfer money into their own accounts, sources said.
The thefts are driving up reports of grand larceny, which have risen citywide 10.2 percent this year compared to the first few months of 2011, according to the most recent NYPD CompStat figures.
On the Upper East Side alone this year, grand larcenies increased 48.3 percent, to 367, compared to the same period last year, when 261 were logged, the numbers reveal.
But the lure of a quick score via identity theft isn’t isolated to the Upper East. Sources in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office say identity crimes have begun to trump drug dealing as the go-to moneymaker in hardscrabble nabes where narcotics once thrived.
“We found reams of personal and financial informationm along with scales and other drug-dealing supplies, in one suspect’s home,” said one law-enforcement source.
“We asked about the scales, and he said, ‘Oh, I don’t do that anymore. This is easier, and I make more money.’ ”
Aside from identity theft, police and prosecutors said several other factors are to blame for the jump in grand larcenies — including skimming devices and sticky-fingered house help.
“We’ve got a problem with home-care attendants, cat sitters and other people coming in to perform services,” said Inspector Matthew Whelan, commanding officer of the Upper East Side’s 19th Precinct.
The purloiners are pocketing jewelry, electronics and cash, Whelan warned at a recent community meeting. “We have 21 of those complaints this year, versus seven last year,” he said.
And the crooks are getting creative. One dressed as a Bloomingdale’s employee, complete with name tag, stood outside the flagship store on East 59th Street and offered prospective customers a steep discount, cops said.
The phony staffer swindled $4,000 from one victim and duped another into forking over $4,600 before finally getting caught, cops added.
The Upper East Side stands among the top 10 precincts driving the increase.
The High Bridge section of The Bronx has seen a 67 percent rise in grand-larceny reports this year compared to last, from 89 to 149 from January through early April.
Only about a dozen of the city’s 76 precincts have seen a decrease this year.