LOS ANGELES – Three men on Monday were charged with stealing more than $2 million from area credit unions and banks by skimming credit card numbers at local gas pumps.
The suspects are accused of installing sophisticated skimming devices on computerized pay pumps at gas stations to record credit and debit card information and personal identifying numbers from unsuspecting customers.
The three, identified as Albert Jose Gonzalez, 39, Josue Albizuras, 42, and Cesar Echeverria, 28, were arrested Feb. 25 after a three-year investigation by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department and FBI. They face multiple counts of conspiracy, identity theft, grand theft and computer access fraud.
Authorities recovered 10,000 stolen credit and debit card numbers, as well as computers, cell phones, digital storage devices and equipment designed to make and encode credit and debit cards when they arrested the three men. They also confiscated $40,000 in cash and luxury vehicles, including a new Porsche and a Ferrari.
