4 Arrested For Gas Station Skimmer Scam In The Capital Region

Four people from Florida have been arrested for a skimmer scheme that involved three states including New York, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Gas station customers across Montgomery, Broome, and Albany Counties fell victim to a nationwide scheme that involved credit and debit card theft at gas stations.

According to My Twin Tiers, four defendants were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly installing skimmer devices in gas station pumps, from April 2016 through December 2018. The devices stole credit and debit card numbers from unsuspecting gas station customers.

Yudiel Ceballos, 33, of Miami, was charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

Arlen Gonzales, 34, of Miami, was charged with conspiracy to commit access fraud.

Yuni Hurtsdo Rodriguez, 33 of Miami, was charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

Marlon Palacios, 36, of Miami and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft.

Three other individuals had already been arrested by police last fall with access devices fraud, in a money-laundering scheme.

The suspects allegedly installed the devices in gas station pumps then they stole data and used it to create fraudulent debit and credit cards, money orders, gift cards, cash and other merchandise.

Several different agencies were involved in the investigation including the Secret Service in Miami, the U. S. Postal Inspection Service Field Office in Boston and Miami, and the FBI in Albany, Miami, and Pittsburgh.

It took a long time for several different agencies to finally arrest the four suspects. They got away with the scheme for at least two years, and it’s probably hard to figure out how many people were actually victimized throughout that time. Hopefully, the victims will be able to retrieve some of the funds that were lost in the scheme.

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