A Romanian man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for running an ATM skimming crew aimed at using electronic surveillance methods to steal bank information from low-income victims - a problem that is growing across the country, the Department of Justice announced this week.

The ringleader, Marius Oprea, 38, secretly installed “skimming” devices, including pinhole cameras and card readers on ATMs in California, according to a federal criminal complaint. The ring used the skimming technology to clone debit cards of participants in anti-poverty programs to steal unemployment benefits from needy people, prosecutors said.

ATM skimming is when criminals put a hidden electronic device on an ATM card reader. The reader then scoops information from a bank card’s magnetic strip whenever a customer uses the machine, according to the FBI.

Federal prosecutors have targeted skimming fraudsters across several states in recent months, including Alabama, California, Nevada and Florida. Data analytics firm FICO tracked a sharp rise in skimming scams across the nation in 2023, with a 96% jump in compromised debit cards, and the FBI estimates skimming costs financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion each year.

The case of the Romanian national, who pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a federal court in California, is the latest to use growingly sophisticated methods to dupe unsuspecting people out of their vital bank information at ATM machines. Many of those charged in the crimes come from overseas, federal prosecutors said.

“Skimming activity is very much increasing,” Andrew Brown, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case, told USA TODAY. “It is extremely profitable, and the perpetrators are hard to catch because they typically enter the U.S. illegally and live under assumed names with counterfeit IDs.”

Transnational Oprea operation caught by feds and European authorities

Oprea, who prosecutors believe entered the country illegally, got his skimming crew up and running in 2023 or before, prosecutors believe, and was active through May 12, 2023, when federal agents searched his car and residence in Oxnard, California.

Findings from the raid include over 20 cloned ATM cards, a card reader, a fake Slovakian passport bearing a photo of Oprea under an alias and a cell phone with photos of over 100 cloned ATM cards, multiple ATM skimmers and pinhole cameras, according to a federal complaint obtained by USA TODAY.

The skimming devices were smuggled into the U.S. from Vienna, Austria, in packages labeled “audio equipment” and addressed to Oprea’s alias and that of a conspirator, the complaint said. European authorities inspecting similar packages addressed to the same people found them to be hollowed-out speakers filled with the devices.

Federal agents began tracking the packages on a tip from Romanian law enforcement authorities, who also alerted U.S. agents to Paul Kimpian, an alleged co-conspirator, the complaint said.

Kimpian and another conspirator were taken into custody in Ventura County, but both were released on cash bond and “fled to parts unknown” after removing electronic monitoring devices, according to federal documents.

Skimming from the vulnerable

The case was investigated by the Vulnerable Communities Task Force, a team dedicated to prosecuting those who prey on communities that are less likely to report crimes and have less legal recourse, including "indigent individuals reliant on public benefits, the elderly and those who have been reluctant to seek assistance from government authorities," according to the Justice Department.

"The people getting victimized— it’s not like they’re Fortune 500 CEOs, they’re people who need the money and they need it badly," said Ciaran McEvoy, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office. "Then they get there to the ATM and find out there’s very little cash in their account."

The groups were targeted, McEvoy said, because the cards they use through the public programs were easier to duplicate. In early 2023, 15 individuals were also arrested in the California district for similarly targeting public benefits recipients through skimming schemes.

Skimming fraud on the rise

Authorities across the nation have prosecuted scammers using skimming devices that have stolen millions from Americans through skimming technology at fuel pumps, registers and ATMs.

FICO tracked nearly 1,600 skimming incidents last year, up from 1,100 incidents in 2022. The data analytics firm also found a sharp rise in scams at bank ATMs but noted most fraudsters still targeted locations outside of banks such as free-standing terminals in convenience stores.

In February, five people in New York were arrested in a scheme targeting over 600 bank accounts. The group allegedly installed devices and cameras on ATMS to capture victims’ bank account information and PINs, federal prosecutors said, then transferred the data onto counterfeit debit cards to make purchases and withdraw cash.

A Las Vegas man was sentenced in June to over four years in prison for a $5 million skimming fraud scheme targeting customers at gas pumps in Nevada and Southern California.

Last April, local authorities in Florida arrested two people who allegedly used skimming devices and counterfeit cards to steal over $11,000 at ATMs across Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.

Steve Weisman, a law and taxation lecturer at Bentley University, said the United States is one of the few countries that continues to use magnetic stripe cards, noting much of the world uses newer EMV smart cards that have computer chips with encrypted data. But Weisman said scammers are always “adapting to the latest technology.”

The FBI recommends some safety measures to protect yourself from skimming:

  • Opt for cards with chip technology instead of magnetic stripe cards
  • Use ATMs in well-lit, indoor locations, which are less vulnerable targets
  • Be extra cautious in tourist areas
  • Don’t use any card reader that appears unusual or damaged
  • Cover the keypad when entering your PIN to protect it from cameras.

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