Man pleads guilty to installing credit card skimmers in Idaho Falls
A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to installing credit card account skimmers in gas pumps in two Idaho cities.
The U.S. Attorney General’s Office in Idaho said Vachik Babayan, 42, of Tujunga, Calif., traveled to Idaho on two separate occasions to install the skimmers.
He first went to a gas station in Caldwell on Dec. 24, 2012. He returned Jan. 8, 2013, to retrieve the skimmer and credit card numbers, but employees had discovered the skimmer on Dec. 28 and turned it over to the Secret Service. It had collected information of about 90 people who had swiped their cards at the pump. The skimmer also captured Babayan’s own credit card information, as he used his own card to test the device.
On Feb. 20, 2013, Babayan rented a moving van in Idaho Falls. He used the van to block security cameras at gas stations in town. On Feb. 21, 2013, authorities recovered seven skimmers at three gas stations. The skimmers had captured names and account numbers from nearly 70 credit card transactions. Again, among the information captured was Babayan’s own.
Possession and attempted possession of 15 or more counterfeit and unauthorized access devices is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 10 years, a term of supervised release of not more than three years, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $100, the attorney general’s office said.
Babayan is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Boise in April.
