OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Oklahoma City Police have arrested three men accused in what authorities believe to be an organized effort to target customers of two popular metro ATMs.
On January 10, Oklahoma City Police responded to the Bank of America location at 12203 Warwick Drive after reports that a deep insert skimmer had been installed on the ATM. A short time later, the same responding officer learned of two more skimming devices that had been recovered from a Bank of America ATM at the brick-and-mortar location at 2101 W. Memorial Road.
“We believe it’s possible that there could still be some other victims affected by this crime,” said Oklahoma City Police Sergeant Dillon Quirk. “So definitely they want to keep an eye on their bank accounts, and that’s just always good practice to keep an eye on your bank accounts electronically.”
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According to court documents, when authorities reviewed the skimmers installed at the separate ATM locations, they noted they were identical. Pinhole cameras were also recovered. Both devices combined give thieves the opportunity to collect as much information from potential victims as possible to wipe out their bank accounts.
Police were able to determine that the devices from the Memorial Road location had been installed around 8 to 9 hours prior to their discovery.
Authorities requested footage from the crimes and were able to identify a clear photo of a Jeep Wagoneer with a Washington plate. Police determined the vehicle had been rented out of California on January 6 and wasn’t due back until February 5.
Police tracked the vehicle to a northwest Oklahoma City Airbnb rental property. The property owner confirmed the location had been rented for January 8 through January 14. While monitoring the property, police noted a second rental vehicle pull up at the same location.
“It’s pretty common that rental properties and rental cars can be used in these types of crimes,” said Quirk. “We’ve seen stolen vehicles used in crimes, so that possibility is always there.”
After obtaining a search warrant, police determined the only occupants of the home were suspects Valentine Teogas, Sebastian Bulacu, and Florin Radu. All three of the men have home addresses in Washington.
“These suspects are from out of town, part of a large transnational organized crime group,” said Quirk.
Sebastian Bulacu. Image courtesy Oklahoma County Jail.
Valentine Teogas. Image courtesy Oklahoma County Jail.
Florin Radu. Image courtesy Oklahoma County Jail.
Numerous items of evidence were found inside the house, including over 50 pinhole cameras, over 25 deep insert skimmers, connector cables, laptop computers, a card reader, cash, and numerous cloned credit cards.
Documents say all of the cards were hotel-style cards that read, “Welcome, enjoy your stay,” on the front of them. At the time the warrant was executed, over 30 of the cards had been found to contain credit or debit card track data belonging to customers from various banks, including Bank of America. 75 other cards still needed to be checked.
“It’s just kind of really scary to think that that can be so easily compromised,” said Bank of America customer Kristi McAllister, who News 4 employees broke the news to Wednesday while she was using one of the ATMs previously tampered with. “Thankfully, I was on vacation; otherwise, I’d really be panicking right now.”
McAllister told News 4 employees she’s also surprised by how brazen the suspects would have to be to pull off their crimes, given how busy the locations they chose typically are.
“There’s eyes everywhere here,” said McAllister. “I mean, cars—so many cars go through here.”
All three suspects are being held on charges of using a device to access card information and cloning a credit or debit card.
News 4 reached out to a Bank of America spokesperson for comment Wednesday on the potential local impact but did not hear back.
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