Two People Charged in Connection with Gas Pump Skimming Scheme

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Two individuals are facing federal charges for using skimming
devices on gas pumps, announced George Beck Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Middle District
of Alabama, and Steven T. Marshall, Attorney General for the State of Alabama. These
charges are the result of a continuing multi-agency investigation that was initiated by
the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, the Ozark Police Department, the United States
Secret Service, and the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office. On February 15, 2017, Eunises Llorca
Menses(30), of Naples, Florida, and Reiner Perez-Rives(34), of Houston, Texas, were charged by a federal
grand jury with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

 

According to court documents, Llorca-Menses and Perez-Rives were involved in a multistate

scheme to defraud individuals and steal bank and credit union account
information from unsuspecting individuals by installing a skimming device at gas
stations. A skimming device can be installed on a gas pump and record a customer’s
credit/debit card number and pin number without the customer’s knowledge or
consent. 

 

As part of their scheme, they would rent vehicles and travel between Florida, Alabama,
Tennessee and Virginia. During their travels, they would visit several gas stations and
install a skimming device inside a gas pump. Through the skimming device, they
collected gas station customers’ credit/debit card information and used that information
to activate or reactivate credit, debit, or gift cards, and make unauthorized cash
withdrawals and purchases at several places around the southeast. 

 

Law enforcement was able to uncover this scheme following multiple reports from
victims concerning the unauthorized use of their debit cards. Working with financial
institutions, the Ozark Police Department, along with state and federal partners,
discovered that many of the victims had used their cards at the same gas station in
Ozark, Alabama. At this station they found a skimming device installed on a gas pump
that had Bluetooth capability. The Bluetooth technology allowed the defendants to
collect a gas customer’s credit/debit information while sitting up to thirty-feet away
from the gas pump.  

 

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