Credit card skimmer found in Frazer tied to 2 other cases, police urge awareness

Investigators say two Romanian nationals accused of trying to steal credit card and debit card information by installing a skimming device at the Sam’s Club store in Frazer also put the skimmers in at least two other stores before they were arrested.

Authorities say that while the devices are nearly impossible to detect by simply looking at them, a little tug on the credit card reader before checking out should reveal if it’s fake.

“The card skimmer we confiscated was placed right over top the regular card reader and attached with a strip of double-backed tape,” said Lt. Matthew Pearson of the Butler Township Police Department.

“If you’re going to use your credit or debit card to buy gas or in a self-checkout line, it would be smart to remember to check to be sure one of these devices hasn’t been installed.”

Molly Stieber, a spokeswoman for the state Attorney General’s Office, said customers also can protect themselves by using alternative payment methods.

“Instead of inserting your credit or debit card into the slot of a merchant’s payment processing machine, consider using a payment app on your smartphone,” she said.

“For Pennsylvanians without smartphones, keeping track of your bank statements and transactions is also crucial to (noticing) any lost money taken by skimmers,” she said.

Anyone who believes they may have been scammed should file a police report and a complaint with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.

The skimmer confiscated in Butler Township was found at the Sam’s Club store in the Moraine Pointe Plaza on Monday after store officials were alerted internally that two people were arrested for using such a device at the store in Frazer, Pearson said.

Butler Township store personnel first checked for the bogus card reader on Saturday but didn’t find it, Pearson said.

But a store manager looked again Monday and discovered the device in a self-checkout line, the lieutenant said.

He said video from the store shows the men installing the device at the register Thursday and the license plate of the car they were driving was recorded by cameras in the parking lot of the shopping center.

“It appears that they didn’t get a chance to return to the store to upload the information that was collected, so we feel pretty confident that the customers at this store didn’t have their information compromised,” Pearson said Tuesday.

Pearson said the case is still under investigation but he is expecting to file felony charges against the two men arrested by Frazer police.

The growing use of card skimmers to steal information in recent years prompted lawmakers to stiffen penalties.

In June 2018, Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation making possession of a card skimmer a felony for the first offense.

Frazer police charged Colceag Constantin, 41, and Raul-Mihani Cojucaru, 40, on Friday with felony counts of access device fraud and criminal conspiracy.

They are being detained in the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh in lieu of $25,000 cash bond each and face a preliminary hearing June 6 before District Judge David Sosovicka.

Monroeville police Chief Doug Cole said Tuesday that detectives are still investigating the discovery of a skimming device at the Sam’s Club store on William Penn Highway, but he said it appears to be the work of the same men arrested in Frazer. He said the skimmer was found at a gas pump.

“The video pulled by Frazer police shows one of the men wearing bright yellow sneakers,” Cole said. “We’re still going through the video from the store here, but those same yellow sneakers were visible. I’m pretty certain these are the same guys.”

Frazer police said the skimmer at the Sam’s Club in the Pittsburgh Mills shopping complex was discovered Thursday when an employee tried to pay for an item and the number “1” button on the keypad didn’t work, according to the criminal complaint.

Frazer police Chief Terry Kuhns said security video shows Constantin and Cojucaru returning to the store two times to retrieve data from the reader using a Bluetooth device.

Police are still trying to determine if they had the chance to share the financial information they collected.

Sam’s Club corporate officials did not return messages seeking comment about whether they will contact store members to inform them that credit card or debit card information might have been stolen.

The FBI estimates that skimming devices cost banks and consumers more than $1 billion a year.

Skimmers are typically installed on ATMs, point-of-sale terminals or fuel pumps to capture data or record a cardholder’s PIN, according to the agency.

The data is then uploaded, often via Bluetooth, to create fake debit or credit cards and then steal from victims’ accounts.

The FBI recommends customers use fuel pumps that are close to the store and in view of the attendant because they are less likely to be targeted by thieves using skimming devices.

Frazer police said store employees weren’t able to see the device being installed because one of the two men blocked the view of the register with a shopping cart filled with paper towels and toilet paper.

The FBI also suggests using a debit card as a credit card and covering the keypad when the PIN is entered because skimming devices often have pinhole cameras installed to capture the order of numbers being entered into the system.

The agency also urges customers to closely inspect a card reader for damage and to pull at the edges of the keypad to make sure it is not a skimming device that has been installed over top.

Debit cards and credit cards with chips installed also are less likely to be compromised because most skimmers only read the magnetic strips on the back of a card.

West Mifflin police Chief Gregory McCulloch said Tuesday that after word began circulating about the skimmers being found in Frazer, he assigned an officer to check on the store in his community.

“We weren’t contacted by Sam’s Club about this, but West Mifflin has been mentioned as a possible place where the skimmers were installed, so we’re going to look into it,” he said.