Arrest of Romanian teens highlight bigger skimming problem, UHP says

Arrest of Romanian teens highlight bigger skimming problem, UHP says

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SALT LAKE CITY — The recent arrests and convictions of two Romanian teenagers in Utah highlight a much bigger card skimming trend, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

A group of "Eastern European gypsies" are believed to be committing fraud using any type of plastic card that has a magnetic strip, including bank cards, gift cards and even hotel room keys. Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce said the group has been known to steal a person's credit card information and put it on a hotel room key's magnetic strip in an effort to hide it from authorities.

Recently, UHP troopers stopped two teenage boys, Romanian nationals, in a car traveling from Anaheim, California, to Lakewood, Colorado, according to search warrant affidavit recently unsealed in 3rd District Court. The boys were stopped on I-70 near Richfield. One boy spoke very little English and the other no English at all.

"A Sanpete County dispatcher is from Romania and speaks Romanian fluently. She assisted over speaker phone in translation with the two young males," according to the affidavit. "Both juveniles stated they had been contacted by an unknown male at a gas station in (California). He paid them $400 each to take a computer, six skimmers, several micro SD cards, one (credit card) reader. They both had a fake international driver's license. They stated the same unknown male paid them for their trip."

The boys were sent to the Central Utah Youth Center. They were eventually convicted of fraud-related charges in juvenile court, served some time in juvenile detention and were released to a relative.

Despite being just 15 and 16 years old, the two boys "have a FBI record number. (One boy) has a criminal history out of California for shoplifting. Both juveniles have case numbers with the customs and border patrol. Both juveniles have history of alien removal."

According to the warrant, "Immigration (officials) stated that they are aware of several subjects of Romanian decent that are traveling the country with skimmers."

According to a federal agent working the case, the boys are "traveling cross country in order to skim credit card and personal information using the skimmers, laptop, cellphone and electronic storage devices found in their possession," the affidavit states. "Both juveniles had forged identification documents that they presented to the trooper."

Royce said while UHP troopers are known to be looking for drug activity on the roads, they also look for evidence of financial fraud and skimming. He said the number of cases troopers are discovering have become "more and more prevalent."

"It's not uncommon to find it," he said.

Who paid the boys to travel across several states was still being investigated Thursday. Royce said it was the goal of both state and federal agencies to follow the steps of all who are arrested, both forward and backward, to try and make bigger catches.

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Pat Reavy

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