LAS VEGAS, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A Nevada man is facing federal charges for the alleged production and use of counterfeit credit cards with codes skimmed from gas pumps, officials said.
Zelalem Berhe, 41, is charged with bank fraud, possession of counterfeit access devices, possession of access device-making equipment and aggravated identity theft, an indictment says.
From about April 2009 to May 2010 Berhe and others allegedly installed devices used to steal magnetic information from credit and debit cards -- known as "skimming" -- at gas pumps in the Las Vegas area, as well as in Florida and Arizona, the Las Vegas Sun reported Monday.
Berhe and others transferred the stolen card information to counterfeit cards through a process called re-encoding, authorities said.
They allegedly skimmed about 13,800 card account numbers and used the stolen account numbers to fraudulently obtain about $591,872 from more than 10 financial institutions, officials said.
UPI
