Man Arrested for ATM "Skimming" in Manhattan Beach

KTLA News
3:01 PM PDT, October 9, 2009

MANHATTAN BEACH -- A Romanian national is under arrest after police say he tried to install a "skimming" device on a bank ATM in Manhattan Beach.

George Puflene, 26, is believed to be part of an organized crime ring that "skimmed" $70,000 from customers' accounts, police said.

Withdrawals from bank accounts ranged from $100 to $10,000, according to investigators.

Puflene was taken into custody on September 25 as he tried to place the illegal device on the ATM at the Citibank Bank on Sepulveda Boulevard near Marine Avenue, according to Manhattan Beach police detective Joe Aiello.

Aiello says detectives believe it was not the first time Puflene placed the skimmer on the ATM machine and they believe there are dozens of victims.

A customer noticed a man acting strangely, with a large stack of credit cards and was spending a long time at the machine. That customer called police.

That's when police discovered an aluminum and plastic plate placed over the ATM's keyboard.

When someone used the keys to press in their passcode, a computer recorded the PIN codes, Aiello said.

The plate and keyboard are so similar to the real thing, police said, customers could not easily tell the difference.

Police discovered that the second ATM at the bank was disabled, so every customer had to use the doctored machine.

Puflene was arrested before he could install an additional device atop the card reader that would steal account numbers from magnetic stripes, Aiello said.

Police believe Puflene would have returned a couple of days later to retrieve the two devices, allowing the theft ring to create ATM cards using stolen account numbers and PIN codes to use later at ATMs to withdraw cash.

Investigators believe Puflene and his alleged counterparts had intended to install the devices on the ATM for the weekend, collecting them Sunday night.

Police did not immediately know at the time that Puflene and a theft group already had been successful with a device at the same bank.

On Sunday, customers began seeing illegal withdrawals from their accounts and started reporting them to police, Aiello said.

Reports started rolling in on Monday, but not all of the 50 victims have made police reports.

Citibank has reimbursed its customers for the money lost, making itself the primary victim.

Aiello is working to try to identify other members of the ring involved with Puflene, who remains in county jail without bail.

Prosecutors have charged Puflene with computer access and fraud, theft, fraudulent possession and use of a scanning device, and possession of burglary tools.

Puflene pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Sept. 29 and is scheduled to return to court next week.
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