Massive Credit Card Scam Uncovered By Ohio Law Enforcement

CLEVELAND, OH — Police arrested two Brazilian men for taking part in what appears to be a massive credit card scheme. The men had two credit card skimmers, more than 250 counterfeit credit or bank cards and nearly $140,000 in cash, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

“This case involves suspects traveling around the state of Ohio and placing skimming devices on ATMs and stealing innocent peoples’ personal and financial information,” said Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Schuck. “These suspects would then use that information for their financial gain."

Felipe Trovo Pena, 27, and Antonio Pedro de Oliveira Neto, 26, have been charged with conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, use of counterfeit credit cards and possession of counterfeit credit cards.

A teller at the Cortland Banks branch in Hubbard helped bust Pena and Neto. The teller called police on Nov. 12, after she saw two men trying to make ATM withdrawals while blocking the camera on the ATM. The bank had just been the victim of fraudulent withdrawals two days earlier, court documents said.

Pena and Neto were taken into custody and law enforcement launched an extensive investigation into their background. As a result of that investigation, police found a storage unit on W. 61st Street in Cleveland that belonged to the two men. Inside the storage unit, police say they found $139,480 in cash, the true Brazilian passports of Pena and Neto, 420 cards with magnetic strips, including 253 counterfeit cards containing customer account data, two skimming devices, and more, the DOJ said.

"These defendants stole personal information from people and then used it to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars through counterfeit bank and credit cards,” U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman said.

The indictment against the men said that between August and November 2017 they installed skimming devices on ATMs to capture the magnetic data on credit and debit cards. They then re-encoded counterfeit credit and bank cards. Those counterfeit cards enabled the men to obtain cash, court document said.

The investigation was led by the FBI, the Hubbard Police and the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office.

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