The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has charged two men with a scam in which authorities say they created duplicate EBT cards and used them to pull money out of accounts belonging to Californians receiving public welfare benefits.
Florin Tanasa, 27, and Adam Nilsson, 30, were arrested on Dec. 1 at the Bank of America on the 1600 block of Sycamore Avenue after bank workers alerted Hercules police of consecutive cash withdrawals with EBT cards at the bank’s ATM, according to the district attorney’s office.
When officers searched the pair’s car, they found 50 fraudulent EBT cards, credit card skimming equipment and an unspecified amount of cash, authorities said. Prosecutors described the scam as a “sophisticated financial criminal scheme.”
Credit card skimming, according to authorities, is a crime in which defrauders use a thin card reader to clone the information from magnetic strips on cards to then withdraw available money from accounts.
“Nilsson and Tanasa are mobile perpetrators who have preyed upon California’s most vulnerable residents,” Deputy District Attorney Dana Filkowski said. “Their financial crimes have bilked individuals and families of assistance they need for support. Had they been released on bail, they would have likely continued their criminal enterprise of defrauding those in need.”
Both Tanasa and Nilsson pleaded not guilty on Tuesday toseven felony charges that…
