Prosecutors in California claim that the Romanian mafia has given a new face to an old scam – skimming debit cards.
Criminals have placed special devices to steal information about cards at self-service checkout counters in grocery stores, writes Fox News.
Debit card skimmers have long been a problem at gas stations and ATMs. And now a highly organized network of scammers is expanding.
"The network has individuals that stand in front of a Walmart or a Target and look like they're begging. Sometimes, they're going to have a couple of kids with them. And they're actually using Bluetooth technology that is connected to skimmers inside of the stores. So it's kind of a two-for-one, they're getting money from people and stealing the numbers off the cards," prosecutors told Fox News Digital.
Surveillance camera footage obtained by the El Cajon Police Department shows that suspects can place a skimmer over the credit card reader at the checkout counter in just a few seconds - and it looks almost exactly like a real one.
Police recommend that store customers pull on this device before inserting the card. "If it wiggles or comes off, it's fake," the source noted.
Up to 9 million dollars stolen per month
Authorities say they have already arrested dozens of suspects, most of whom have ties to organized crime in Romania.
And despite significant arrests in December and January of dozens of suspects in the U.S., Europe, and Mexico, where they team up with cartels in tourist destinations like Tulum, thefts are on the rise, as the thieves double down on their efforts, authorities said.
They can make up to 9 million dollars a month - largely at the taxpayers' expense.
Skimmers can also target EBT card users (Electronic Benefits Transfer).
EBT is a social card system through which some vulnerable individuals receive money from the state in the United States.
Thieves would empty the beneficiaries' accounts at the moment when the state makes monthly payments, according to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
As a result, over 100 million dollars have been stolen from social assistance programs.
"The victims are single mothers struggling to provide a roof over their children's heads and food on the table, and hard-working people who wake up standing in line at the checkout counter with bags full of groceries only to be humiliated when they find out they have no money in their account because a thief stole everything in secret.
Meanwhile, the thieves use this money to fund organized crime, to buy luxury cars worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, and to lead a luxurious life that the true recipients can only dream of," Spitzer said.
In addition to sending the stolen money to Romania to fund a luxurious lifestyle and European sports cars, scammers buy powdered milk for children and energy drinks with food stamps, which are then resold in Mexico, as part of an agreement with local cartels.
Many of them flaunt their acquired goods on TikTok. One of the men involved in these crimes was already on Romania's most wanted list - Florin Duduianu.
The 39-year-old man has been arrested after the Police tracked him as he withdrew money with different cards from the same ATM in Placentia, about 50 km southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Duduianu is expected to be sentenced to 30 years in prison this week, according to the Department of Justice.