DALLAS — Three people were arrested Friday, June 14, 2024, for using skimmers on ATMs in Dallas and Tarrant County.
Skimmers are devices illegally added to credit card readers that copy information from the card so thieves can steal money from customers' accounts. The FBI estimates skimmers steal $1 billion yearly from banks and their customers.
The three arrested were Mihai Florin Marienscu, 37, Nelu Nae, 36, and Mihai Vlaicu, 47.
The arrests were made following an investigation by the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center.
The three suspects were also involved in several skimmer investigations spanning multiple states, according to a release from the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation.
According to the release, the suspects used a combination of deep-insert skimmer devices to collect information off magnetic strips on credit/debit cards, as well as pinhole cameras that capture personal identification numbers (PIN) when entered into the keypad of an ATM.
The release says the FCIC investigation recovered 26 deep-insert skimmer devices and enough parts to complete 13 additional deep-insert skimmer devices.
TX FCIC special agents were assisted by multiple investigators in multiple cities, including St. Louis, MO, Euless, TX, Dallas, TX, Colleyville, TX, the United States Secret Service and asset protection investigators from several retail partners.
