They showed up at BJ’s Wholesale Clubs in Johnston and Warwick, and in Seekonk, Mass., and at Walmart stores in Coventry, and in Massachusetts at Walmarts in Walpole, Avon, and Raynham. Local police were able to collect some of the devices, which are undergoing a forensic review by the US Secret Service.
The scheme reached beyond southern New England, according to the special agent who investigated the case. BJ’s Wholesale Club alone also discovered skimming devices at 22 locations from May through August 2023, including Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.
Here’s how the scheme works. Criminals use skimming devices to surreptitiously record account information from credit and debit cards used at registers and ATMs. They’ll install the device on or over, or even inside an actual card reader, in a way that prevents anyone from noticing that it’s there. In some cases, the devices are used with a camera that’s either inside the device or separate. The camera focuses on the keypad of the card reader, and so it can capture images of someone entering their PIN.
The criminals using the skimming devices will often leave them installed for a short time, and then retrieve them. They can then transfer the stolen account information recorded from the debit or credit cards to a computer or other electronic storage device. The participants then match that information with corresponding PINs. They can also use Bluetooth technology to transfer the stolen information from the device to a computer, which allows them to download the stolen information without removing the device.
And, they can also make counterfeit debit or credit cards by transferring a genuine card’s information to the fake cards, and then use the fake cards to withdraw money from someone’s bank account or business.
This group, according to US Attorney Zachary Cunha, did it all.
“The scale, scope, and brazen nature of these defendants’ scheme to steal the financial account information of unsuspecting consumers and use it to help themselves to funds and property, as we have alleged in federal court, is staggering,” Cunha said in a statement Tuesday. “I commend the superb work of Homeland Security Investigations, as well as our local law enforcement partners, for their diligent and effective work to disrupt this ring of thieves, and ensure that those responsible face a reckoning in federal court.”
Though the allegations all center on the East Coast, the alleged conspirators all live in California. And, none of them are supposed to be in the United States.
Most are appearing in US District Court in Providence on Tuesday and Wednesday on federal charges involving the alleged conspiracy.
Armando Ion Codreanu, 23, of Placentia, Calif., is a citizen of Ireland, and is believed by US Customs and Border Patrol to have illegally entered the country to work. He was arrested in Knoxville, Tenn., in April and charged with identity theft and attempted theft while in possession of ATM skimming equipment and burglary tools.
Codreanu is being charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Isabela Ignat Codreanu, 23, of Anaheim and Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Romania, was arrested in 2018 and 2021 and charged with illegally entering the United States. She is charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
Robby Vicson Codreanu, 20, Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Great Britain who entered the United States illegally, is also charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud. He was arrested in April in Knoxville and charged with identity theft and attempted theft while in possession of ATM skimming equipment and burglary tools.
Mila Ciuciu, 20, of Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Romania, was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police in 2022 and charged with retail theft. She is now charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
Nicolas Longin Codreanu, 21, of Placentia, Calif., a citizen of Romania and Ireland, is charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He was convicted in March in California after an arrest in 2020 for charges of burglary and fraudulent use of a scanning device, while he was tampering with ATM machines. He also had a fake ID. He was also arrested last November in California on charges of burglary and possession of burglary tools.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Ionut Zamfir, 37, of Los Angeles, who is a citizen of Romania. Zamfir is charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. He was arrested in 2022, charged with illegally entering the United States.
Surveillance videos at various stores and banks captured different members of the group as they worked together to install and remove the devices, and use fake cards.
At the big-box stores, one would install the skimming devices on self-checkout registers, while two others would hold up bags or shopping items to hide what he was doing. At bank ATMs, several members of the group would do their work in the wee hours, driving or walking up to the drive-through ATMs and installing the devices.
As a result, thousands of people used those ATMs or registers, and unwittingly gave away their bank account information, according to federal authorities.
“These six individuals are members of an organization who defrauded thousands of residents of Rhode Island and beyond of their hard-earned money. The ATM and point of sale skimming equipment they used worked quickly and efficiently to steal credit card information, allowing them to clone and illegally access credit cards, bank accounts, and other financial accounts of unsuspecting victims,” said Homeland Security Investigations New England Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Krol.
At Bank Newport, for example, the cards of 108 customers were compromised, and 22 of them reported unauthorized transactions totaling more than $17,000.
Westerly Community Credit Union discovered that $279,250 was stolen from 44 separate accounts just last December. The bank realized what happened after an elderly couple called the police about $25,000 stolen from their account, according to the affidavit.
At Walmart stores in Coventry and Warwick, nearly 5,000 credit or debit, or EBT cards, were run through registers that had these skimming devices. More than 9,000 cards went through the skimming devices at Walmart stores in Massachusetts, in Quincy, North Attleboro, Raynham, and Avon.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ronald R. Gendron. Homeland Security Investigations and the Bristol police led the investigation, with assistance from police in Warwick, Coventry, Westerly, Johnston, Seekonk, and the US Secret Service.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.
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