Wauwatosa Police Department Helps Thwart Romanian Card-Skimming Ring
February 12, 2021

Wauwatosa, WI  Through the cooperation and information sharing of multiple law enforcement agencies across several states, Oshkosh and Fod du Lac Police were able to apprehend and charge individuals from a Romanian skimming ring with card fraud and identity theft.  The first subject was arrested in Oshkosh and two more were later arrested in Fond du Lac.  The suspect was in possession of about 80 prepaid gift cards when he was arrested in Oshkosh.  Wauwatosa Police assisted in the investigation by interrogating the cards. Using ERAD, they were able to quickly determine that all 80 cards were re-encoded with stolen debit card numbers.  Those card numbers belonged to unsuspecting victims and had been obtained by the use of skimming devices placed at various locations.   Using the “Case Cloned Card Report” made it easy to explain and demonstrate to prosecutors which cards were associated with which accounts.  And the ERAD “Card Issuers Report” organized the account numbers by the issuing financial institution, making service of legal process much easier.  According to Detective Milotzky, “by quickly identifying the cloned cards and producing clear reports for prosecutors, we saved valuable time and were able to secure an indictment for the suspect.” https://amp-thenorthwestern-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.thenorthwestern.com/amp/948753002

Contact Detective John Milotzky (jmilotzky@wauwatosa.net) for additional information.