Walla Walla Card Skimming Scheme Lands Teen in Jail

Yet another example of the growing wave of card skimming fraud, this time in Walla Walla, and involved a teenager!

Fortunately, quick action by authorities kept the damages to a minimum. Walla Walla police say 18-year-old Vasile B. Bistriceanu was arraigned in Superior Court on charges of unlawful factoring of transactions.

Officials were first tipped off to the scheme by the Italian immigrant, who authorities say speaks very little English. Bistriceanu was seen on surveillance cameras after Banner Bank security officials said various Washington and Oregon banks had been hit with the identity swiping devices. The Walla Walla Eastgate branch of banner was hit July 23 and 24th.

Someone placed the device, which fits inside or over the existing card swiper, and stole a number of identities, pin numbers and account information.

Bistriceanu was arrested after officials placed the bank ATM under surveillance. He was seen installing the device at the bank around 6:20am Saturday morning. Quick action by the bank in cancelling cards, freezing accounts and notifying customers kept the actual financial damages very low.

Walla Walla police say due to the suspect's 'curious' backround, having claimed to have lived in Romania and other countries, and his supplying two different birthdays, they suspect he's part of a larger operation. They are working with the Secret Service and other federal agencies to try to uncover more suspects.

When you use your ATM or debit or credit card at an unmanned machine, check the swiper to make sure it doesn't easily pop loose. Look for uncontained wires sticking out of the back of the machine, and especially at gas stations, look for overhead cameras that look out of place.

These devices capture the PIN, account data and other information from the swiped card, then thieves can retrieve the data by returning later and removing the swiping device. Usually they're installed during dark late night or early morning hours, then removed later in the day. Rarely do these thieves the leave the swiping devices in place for more than few hours, thereby lowering their risk of being caught.