Morgan Hill Police arrested two people who were allegedly in possession of a credit card skimming device and other equipment used to steal personal banking information during an Aug. 23 traffic stop, according to authorities.
At about 8:50pm, a MHPD sergeant stopped a vehicle on Condit Road and contacted the driver and passenger, Morgan Hill Police said in a press release. The driver was identified as Marcela Terezia-Pop, 55, and the passenger was identified as Ionut Calciu, 29.
Both subjects presented the sergeant with false identification, but police determined they were in the U.S. from Romania, authorities said.
During a search of the vehicle, officers found a credit/debit card skimming device, USB storage drives, memory cards and numerous gift cards, police said. “The investigation determined that the suspects were using the skimming device to access identifying information from ATMs or similar machines and then transferring the stolen data to the USB and memory cards,” says the press release.
Terezia-Pop and Calciu were arrested and booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of manufacturing false identification documents, possession of burglary tools, destruction of evidence and conspiracy, police said.
“The Morgan Hill Police Department would like to remind you to be vigilant while at ATMs and gas pumps by conducting a brief inspection of the machine and covering your pin number,” says the press release.
Morgan Hill Police reported that an active credit card skimming device was found on an ATM at Bank of America, 200 Cochrane Plaza. That device, which consisted of a small camera pointing at the ATM keypad, was disabled but no suspect or suspects were immediately identified.
It is unclear if the suspects arrested Aug. 23 were associated with the Cochrane Plaza skimmer.
