Man sentenced for installing credit card skimmers
A California man will spend nearly a year in prison after installing credit card skimmers on gas pumps in Caldwell and Idaho Falls, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.
In addition to spending 11 months and 25 days in prison for possessing 15 or more unauthorized credit card account numbers, Vachik Babayan, 42, of Tujunga, California, will pay a $10,500 fine and a restitution of $9,999. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge also sentenced Babayan on Monday to serve three months of home detention and three years of supervised release after leaving prison.
Babayan 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.
“This case demonstrates how vigilant cooperation between federal and local law enforcement, and local businesses, protects Idaho consumers from credit card fraud and other violations of financial security,” said Olson.
