Baytown Authorities Take Down Credit Card Skimming Operation, Detain Two with Advanced Skimming Devices
BAYTOWN, Texas—Perla Miclescu, 25, and Rafael Rafaila, 20, were taken into custody by Baytown police on many offenses about a credit card skimming scheme.
According to criminal documents from Harris County, the two had 24 re-encoded credit cards, a “deep insert skimmer,” and “overlay pinhole cameras.”
According to the records, both offenders are currently facing deportation, and Miclesu is a citizen of Romania.
Additionally, records show that both individuals are currently wanted in other counties and states on fraud-related offenses.
According to a 2019 Colorado County, Texas, indictment, Miclescu and three other defendants carried out a heist. According to Harris County records, Miclescu posted bond in that instance and did not appear in court again.
According to court documents, Rafaila is facing unresolved charges in Indiana for illegally possessing a card-skimming device.
The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center’s Captain of Internal Operations, Jeff Roberts, notes that while he is unable to comment specifically on this particular case, a “deep insert skimmer” is a common and extremely dangerous gadget.
“We refer to these as deep Insert skimmers because they are being installed internally within the card reader. Then, they employ a concealed camera device that imitates stock hardware and records when you enter your PIN number. Therefore, he claimed, “the transaction is being videotaped.”
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He advises using tap to pay as your best option to protect your information. According to him, the card’s magnetic strip is its weakest point and the source of information theft for fraudsters.
According to him, utilizing a tap feature on your card or Apple Pay or Google Pay on your phone lessens that risk.
“Those are very secure transactions and, as it sits currently, those aren’t able to be skimmed, because you’re not swiping into the terminal,” he stated.
According to the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center, 4,45 credit card skimmers and 5,574 counterfeit credit cards have been found in the last two years. claiming to have stopped $171,516,831 in financial losses brought on by fraud in Texas.
A $200,000 bond is holding both suspects in the Harris County jail.