'Sophisticated' fraudster with a grudge against banks used 'skimmer' machine to steal victims' ATM bank cards
An illegal immigrant with a grudge against banks has been jailed after admitting 11 counts of fraud by using a 'skimmer' to steal debit cards from unsuspecting cash machine users.
Florim Manea of Sowers Gardens, Willenhall, had targeted cash machines in Donnington and Wellington in Telford, as well as ATMs in Wolverhampton, Kidderminster and Hinckley, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard yesterday (August 11).
Ms Alexa Carrier, prosecuting, said the 45-year-old, who came to the UK from Romania in 2012, had admitted defrauding 11 unsuspecting ATM victims and stole in total £7,208 from his victims.
She said that the amount spent on each card varied, ranging from £100 to more than £1,400, in transactions between September 4 last year and June 5 this year.
Ms Carrier said: "He used a skimming device on ATMs, which was indistinguishable from the actual machine. A user would put their card in and receive an error message to contact their bank.”
She said once the bank card owner left the ATM, Manea would swoop in, take the card and immediately use it in local shops, making payments of hundreds of pounds.
