Two men have been arraigned in federal court on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft for crimes committed in Oklahoma and other states.
Kevin Konstantinov, 50, and Elvin Alisuretov, 36, both of Washington, are accused of using a Murphy Gas master pump key to install credit card skimming devices on gas pumps, leaving them in place for a month or two, and collecting account information and PIN numbers from unsuspecting customers' credit cards. Konstantinov and Alisuretov allegedly transferred the stolen information to counterfeit credit and debit cards, then used the fraudulent cards to withdraw cash from ATM machines, depositing some into personal accounts. Investigators say that approximately 300 Murphy Gas customers from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas were affected, losing a total of approximately $400,000 dollars.
The men are allegedly seen on surveillance video using debit and credit cards at Oklahoma ATMs. Secret Service agents, who picked up the case after being alerted by authorities in Durant, Oklahoma, say the men visited at least 17 ATMs on one day alone. They say one video shows a suspect swiping card after card at an automated teller machine, using the machine for 16 minutes straight.
The men are accused of committing the skimming fraud from April 2012 until January 2013. The were investigated by the Durant Police Department, the Muskogee Police Department, and the United States Secret Service.
Identity theft as defined under 18 USC § 1028 is punishable by a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Credit card skimming is a type of credit card fraud in which an electronic device--an illegitimate credit card reader--is swiped during a legitimate business transaction. Small, portable skimmers may collect credit and debit card information at a restaurant, and now these devices are increasingly being implanted in gas pumps.
Financial consulting firm Javelin Strategy and Research reports that in 2011, approximately 11.6 million Americans were the victims of identity theft--about 1 in 20. Of these cases, around 66 percent involved existing debit or credit card accounts.
Gas pump skimming is often associated with international criminal syndicates based in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Konstantinov and Alisuretov, for example, are suspected of being associated with fraudulent activity in Eastern Europe and Russia.
Authorities say that consumers can help protect themselves by checking to see if gas pumps have a safety seal that shows a credit card scanner has not been tampered with or replaced and by using debit cards as credit cards to avoid the theft of their Personal Identification Numbers (PIN).
