![]() ![]() They are being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh in lieu of $25,000 cash bond each and face a preliminary hearing June 6 before District Judge David Sosovicka. Tom Wolf signed legislation making possession of a card skimmer a felony for the first offense.įrazer police charged Colceag Constantin, 41, and Raul-Mihani Cojucaru, 40, on Friday with felony counts of access device fraud and criminal conspiracy. The growing use of card skimmers to steal information in recent years prompted lawmakers to stiffen penalties. Pearson said the case is still under investigation but he is expecting to file felony charges against the two men arrested by Frazer police. “It appears that they didn’t get a chance to return to the store to upload the information that was collected, so we feel pretty confident that the customers at this store didn’t have their information compromised,” Pearson said Tuesday. He said video from the store shows the men installing the device at the register Thursday and the license plate of the car they were driving was recorded by cameras in the parking lot of the shopping center. ![]() The skimmer confiscated in Butler Township was found at the Sam’s Club store in the Moraine Pointe Plaza on Monday after store officials were alerted internally that two people were arrested for using such a device at the store in Frazer, Pearson said.īutler Township store personnel first checked for the bogus card reader on Saturday but didn’t find it, Pearson said.īut a store manager looked again Monday and discovered the device in a self-checkout line, the lieutenant said. “For Pennsylvanians without smartphones, keeping track of your bank statements and transactions is also crucial to (noticing) any lost money taken by skimmers,” she said.Īnyone who believes they may have been scammed should file a police report and a complaint with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. “Instead of inserting your credit or debit card into the slot of a merchant’s payment processing machine, consider using a payment app on your smartphone,” she said. Molly Stieber, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said customers also can protect themselves by using alternative payment methods. “If you’re going to use your credit or debit card to buy gas or in a self-checkout line, it would be smart to remember to check to be sure one of these devices hasn’t been installed.” Matthew Pearson of the Butler Township Police Department. “The card skimmer we confiscated was placed right over top the regular card reader and attached with a strip of double-backed tape,” said Lt. Investigators say two Romanian nationals accused of trying to steal credit card and debit card information by installing a skimming device at the Sam’s Club store in Frazer also put the skimmers in at least two other stores before they were arrested.Īuthorities say that while the devices are nearly impossible to detect by simply looking at them, a little tug on the credit card reader before checking out should reveal if it’s fake. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |