Two European men were arrested by APD’s Organized Crime Unit after allegedly using skimmers to steal hundreds of thousands from ATMs around Albuquerque over the past month.
Cirstian Mr Ion-Dinu, 35, and Ion-Costinel Matusanu, 47, are charged with possession of machinery, plate or other credit card contrivance, forgery of credit card and conspiracy, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court.
Both men were booked into the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center on Tuesday. It is unclear if either man has an attorney.
A CU Anytime employee told authorities that a group of unknown people had been tampering with several of the company’s ATMs around Albuquerque since early December, according to the complaint. The suspects did so by installing skimmers — credit card readers that look like part of an ATM — to collect card numbers and PINs.
Police said the CU Anytime employee informed detectives about fraudulent activity happening in an ATM located at Carlisle NE on Tuesday. The officer arrived at the scene and managed to locate two suspects, later identified as Ion-Dinu and Matusanu.
The men were driving away from the scene when the officer stopped them at Coors NW and detained them both, according to the complaint. The officer was able to identify the suspects from ATM surveillance videos provided by the CU Anytime employee.
Ion-Dinu and Matusanu,…
