3 men charged in LA with installing devices on gas pumps to steal credit card access codes
By APMonday, March 8, 2010
3 charged with SoCal gas pump ID theft
LOS ANGELES — Three men are accused of stealing $2 million by installing devices on gas station pumps that harvested credit card access codes.
The men pleaded not guilty Monday in Los Angeles to two dozen charges of conspiracy, identity theft, grand theft and computer access fraud. They face up to 20 years each in prison if convicted and remain jailed on $2 million bail each.
Prosecutors contend the men installed skimmers on computerized gas pumps that recorded credit card, debit card and PIN numbers that later were used to withdraw cash from ATMs.
Los Angeles County prosecutors say the men had 10,000 stolen numbers when they were arrested on Feb. 25. Authorities also seized $40,000 and fancy cars, including a Ferrari.
