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StumbleOfficials: 13,800 credit cards ‘skimmed’ in alleged scheme
Monday, Sept. 20, 2010 | 6:22 p.m.
Federal charges have been filed against a Las Vegas man in connection with the production and use of counterfeit credit and debit cards that allegedly were encoded with information skimmed from gas pumps in Las Vegas and elsewhere.
Zelalem Berhe, 41, is charged in a criminal indictment with five counts of bank fraud, possession of 15 or more counterfeit access devices, possession of access device-making equipment and aggravated identity theft, said U.S. attorney for Nevada Daniel Bogden.
From about April 16, 2009, to May 4, 2010, the indictment alleges that Berhe and others installed devices used to steal magnetic information from credit and debit cards — known as "skimming" — at gas pumps in the Las Vegas area, as well as in Florida and Arizona.
Berhe and others used computers, encoders and software programs to transfer the stolen credit and debit card information to counterfeit credit and debit cards through a process called re-encoding, authorities said. A re-encode is when someone uses a real credit card and erases the magnetic information on the magnetic stripe to replace it with the stolen information.
Berhe and others allegedly skimmed about 13,800 credit and debit card account numbers using this system and unlawfully used the stolen account numbers to fraudulently obtain about $591,872 from more than 10 financial institutions, officials said.
According to the indictment, during two local traffic stops on Feb. 7 and May 4, 2010, officers recovered skimmers, laptops with access device-making equipment from Berhe, as well as 18 counterfeit credit/debit cards.
If convicted, Berhe faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on each bank fraud count, up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each access device count, and a minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.
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Chunky says:
Send this sucker and his friends to the new brides section at the prison!
That's what Chunky thinks!
It's such a thought out, intricate crime of huge proportions that these people should spend a LONG time in jail.
30 years sounds good.
If this guy obeyed the traffic laws, he would still be out there stealing credit card info. Thanks Metro.
These are the guys we have to be on the look out for. They are the dangerous ones with technical know how to turn out your lights..Scary..
thank you metro for your good work
Good job Metro! I hope he rots in prison.
It's NOT JUST this scum bag doing this.
I have a friend who used his credit card at a gas pump in Las Vegas and within MINUTES the card was used to buy BOOZE, GROCERIES, and full tanks of GAS for two trucks
IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
at a 'SPANISH-SPEAKING' grocery store.
ALL WITHIN MINUTES.
These illegal scum bags are probably sitting a short ways away from the pumps and using scanners and laptops to email the card numbers to an illegal card operation across state lines that manufactures the phony illegal cards,
used in a 'SPANISH-SPEAKING' grocery store.
THANKS TO ALL THE POLITICO TYPES THAT SUPPORT AMNESTY FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS WHILE WE KEEP PAYING AND PAYING AND PAYING.......(KEEP WRITING THOSE TAX CHECKS, BABY......)
The last sentence sums up the whole situation, IF CONVICTED. Our judicial system does not seem to convict anyone anymore. The cops are doing an excellent job, but the judicial system keeps the general public in constant jeopardy.
This man is probably long gone by now.ha ha ha
I always love how people tell cops to "go catch the real criminals" when pulled over. Little do they know that traffic stops are how many are caught. This is a perfect example of good, old fashioned police work.
Buy:
That just goes to show that you shouldnt be lazy while buying gas. WALK yourself into the store at use a point of purchase machine that is actually supervised. This happens time and time again and yet people continue to get taken.
buyOsell,
The same thing has happened thousands of times at POS registers inside stations and actually is the usual location versus outside in public.
The only way to be confident is to pay cash although you can limit the damage by using a debit card vs credit card, or a gas card vs a bank card.
If you pay cash for you purchase, you then have to risk being hit by a car (drunk driver) crossing the street from the pump to the door. You also have to risk being involved in a robbery inside the store or being robbed on the way out. Vegas remember?
Is any one thinking "Office Space"... lol
I'm thinking, I'll pay cash for my gas.
13th floor, those risks you mention apply, no matter what form of payment you use. At least by paying cash, you won't get your credit card skimmed. And you end up saving a buck or 2 on the cost of a tank of gas by paying the cash price.
I hope they throw him into a cell with a few gang bangers who might not like "his kind".
Do we know which gas stations were affected?
Wizard, what makes you think they were Mexican? Read the name of the perpetrator again.
Pay attention geenab65:
When my friend called the telephone number that appeared on his bill from the ILLEGAL charges, the person answering the phone spoke this:
Buenos Dias, Supermercado XXXXXXXXXXXX, como puedo ayudarte?
And that person DID NOT speak English until spoken to, in English.
AND I stated above that "It's NOT JUST this scumbag..."
Again, geenab65, you should really pay attention before you type out a few clueless words......
Another reason to pay with cash. Credit card use is risky. Not only because of someone scamming your info but also living beyond your immediate means, thereby being more in debt.
30 years sounds about right.