Feds Arrest 5 Romanians in Missouri ATM Scam

There's a new international twist to bank fraud in Missouri as feds have busted 5 foreign nationals in an ATM skimming scheme.

This new attempt at ripping you off has just been shared by the FBI in St. Louis, Missouri who say 5 from Romania have admitted to skimming ATM cards in Missouri according to what they just said on their Facebook/Meta page.

The names released by the FBI were Mihai Vlaicu, 48, and Mihai Florin Marinescu, 37, Laurentiu Miguel Ivan, 33, Nelu Nae, 37 and Venera Isabelle Dumitru, 28. It's possible that a 6th person will be arrested and charged, too.

How does ATM card skimming work?

As Bankrate says, ATM card skimming schemes attempt to steal your PIN number by placing fraudulent card sliders in active ATM machines. When you approach your bank ATM and slide your card into the machine, the slide area is not original to the machine, but placed there by villains. The evil slide device then records your PIN number after you enter it and that allows bad guys to create mock ATM cards that can be used with your valid PIN number which they now have.

The FBI has not released information at this time about how many in Missouri may have been victimized by these 5 Romanians. That means it would be a great idea to check your bank account and make sure there is no unusual activity on it that you can't identify. If you do find money withdrawn that you didn't know about, contact your local Missouri bank and also let the FBI know as it could be a new case of fraud that they're not aware of - yet.