Two men have been busted for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a credit card skimming scam that swept Northeast Ohio.
Federal Investigators say Brazilian Nationals, 27-year-old Felipe Trovo Pena and 26-year-old Antonio Pedro De Oliveira Neto were living out of the La Quinta Inn on W. 150th.
They were operating an intricate scheme out of a storage unit at Clark and W 60th St. That’s were the FBI uncovered a jackpot of incriminating evidence.
And it’s where the stolen bucks stopped because an observant bank employee in Hubbard, Ohio saw them covering up an ATM camera and called the cops.
The affidavit states they found "components for, and assembled ATM skimming devices." Also in the storage unit was proof investigators believe show the 2 had been "extracting currency and then manipulating ATMs including covering ATM cameras with duct tape."
It also reveals the duo stealing personal info and then using it to swipe hundreds of thousands of dollars through fake bank and credit cards. “Almost 140 thousand dollars in $5,000 bundled groups."
It's all part of the U.S. Attorney’s case against the Brazilian nationals they say were stealing money statewide and sending it back to Brazil.
The affidavit mentions "multiple photos of Western Union remittance from money wires sent to Brazilian locations."
So here are some good pointers to go over again when scanning your card at gas pumps as well.
- Tape seals when broken may mean a skimmer is inside.
- From the inside of the gas station clerks can get a better view of what’s happening in close proximity, so use pumps closer to the door.
- Try using credit instead of debit so worst case scenario, your zip code is all that is stolen.
If nothing else, go inside and pay with cash.
As for Trovo Pena and De Oliveira Neto, they, of course, are innocent until proven guilty. But the message is clear...these thefts aren't going unaccounted for.