OAK PARK, Mich.–A skimming operation that hit banks and credit unions across Metro Detroit has been busted by police. At least one credit union was hit for more than $100,000, police said.
Metro Detroit police said they have arrested three men who were allegedly involved in a card-cloning operation set up inside an Oakland County apartment building.
Arrested were Ciprian Viorel Vartolomei, Catalin Puscasu and Ion Florin Opruio, all of whom have been accused of stealing more than $200,000 between September 2018 and March 2019 from financial institutions across Southeast Michigan by making clone cards and withdrawing money from ATMs.
Among the credit unions hit was American 1 Credit Union, with police reporting $107,444.70 was taken during two ATM skimming incidents in February.
CEO’s Response
“I am proud of the role that the American 1 team played in the apprehension and indictment of the perpetrators,” said Martha Fuerstenau, president/CEO of American 1 Credit Union, in a statement. “Our team dedicated countless hours and resources collaborating with law enforcement in hopes that we could help find justice for our members – and we accomplished it.”
The credit union stressed no account-level information was compromised in the skimming attack.
Since the initial card skimmer was detected in February, American 1 reported it has taken multiple measures to increase member security and minimize risk, including:
- Reviewing all ATM locations for enhanced safety and correcting anything deemed as a deficiency
- Giving employees further education and training on what new signs to look for on ATMs that might indicate tampering
- Initiating a new monitoring protocol for after-hours fraudulent activity
- Adjusting the parameters of the real-time fraud alerts sent by their third-party vendor
- Temporarily reducing the daily ATM withdrawal limits on cards that may have been impacted by the skimmers to prevent further losses.
- Reissuing over 2,500 member cards that may have been impacted by the ATM skimmers.
- Ensuring that every member that had fraudulent withdrawals from the skimmer incidents was made whole
Investigation Launches
The investigation, which was launched in September 2018 after credit union members and bank customers complained of unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts, involved the U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations and the South Eastern Michigan Financial Crimes Task Force, in addition to local police.
Oproiu was identified as a suspect in multiple fraud reports after being seen on surveillance video at several of the ATMs using cloned cards to withdraw money, according to police. Among the credit unions whose members were hit were Community Choice CU, Michigan Education Credit Union, and American 1 Credit Union.
What Video Shows
Similarly, police said MECU surveillance video appears to show Vartomolei at one of its ATMs using a female member’s account information, and has also been identified from surveillance videos as the person who installed and removed the ATM skimmer involved in the incident.
MECU members from the Livonia branch lost about $17,726.25 during the skimming incident, according to court records and police.
The third suspect, Pascasu, has also allegedly been captured on surveillance video making fraudulent withdrawals from a County National Bank ATM in Jonesville, Mich.
How Suspects Were Caught
According to police, Puscasu was driving and Vartolomei was the front seat passenger in a silver 2019 Ford Fusion. Investigators reported they found the Fusion one day later in a parking lot on West Nine Mile Road in Oak Park, Mich. Vartolomei and Puscasu were seen getting into the Fusion and driving away and were followed by police who conducted a traffic stop. Vartolomei and Puscasu were arrested by Homeland Security agents for immigration violations, according to court documents.
Vartolomei had $3,400 cash in his pocket and Puscasu had $7,980 cash on him at the time of their arrests, police said.
Investigators recovered fraudulent identification documents and bank cards matching the names of their fake identities, authorities reported.
In addition, police said a search of one of the apartments on West Nine Mile Road was being rented by Vartolomei under a fake name, with the search turning up $79,950 in cash; several counterfeit access device parts used to create counterfeit access devices; materials and parts used to make deep-insert skimmers and related equipment; tools for creating counterfeit access device equipment; several articles of clothing matching those seen on bank surveillance footage; and approximately 505 cloned access devices with suspected PINs written on the devices.
What Else Was Allegedly Found
In addition, police said they found bank records showing accounts opened in fake names: Eric Rene Fuss, Dumitru Movradin, Bjorn Ove Sibgjornsen and Jean Francois Margelli.
Police said the investigation into the cloned cards found in the apartment and storage unit confirmed that 325 account numbers belong to American 1 Credit Union members, police said.