Criminals who steal other people’s credit card information and use it to make money spend a LOT of time in jail. They deserve the punishment that’s handed out to them because what they do really can ruin someone’s life.
A victim of identity theft is left with a myriad of problems, from a bad credit score to wrecked financial relationships with credit card companies.
Here are five card fraudsters who thought they could game the system but ended up with significant prison sentences for their nefarious activities.
Ameer Spinks
Location: Detroit, MI
Sentence: 3-5 years
Using stolen credit card information, Spinks and four other accomplices would purchase store gift cards from retailers and then use those cards to buy goods. The group bought the stolen credit card data from a Russian counterfeit operation and had wired $18,000 to the country via Western Union in exchange. In addition to his sentence, Spinks will have to pay $52,630 in restitution – hopefully through legitimate means.
Boris Tumasyan
Location: Glendale, CA
Sentence: 5-7 years
Tumasyan and an accomplice were charged with acquiring credit card information with the intent to defraud by placing hidden readers at gas stations. Unsuspecting customers would pay for their fuel with a credit card, and a reader inside would skim the information off of the card. They were then able to retrieve the card information from the skimmers – these were used at five gas stations and collected 3,600 card numbers.
Albert Gonzalez
Location: Miami, FL
Sentence: 20 years
In what was one of the most well known credit card fleecing schemes, Gonzalez stole financial data from well known retail stores such as Barnes & Noble and T.J. Maxx. It has been reported that Gonzales had access to over $130 million worth of credit card information. The computer hacker was given a lengthy sentence by the judge because he was also working for the U.S. Secret Service during the time of his crime.
Dale Morris
Location: Hiawatha Correctional Facility in Kinross, MI
Sentence: 5-20 years
Can you still be involved in crime while you’re already in PRISON? You sure can. That’s what Morris was convicted of, since he was running a sophisticated criminal enterprise in the slammer. From his cell, he managed to have people working for him steal names and personal information from a Michigan hospital system. You would think that someone in prison might want to think about getting out, but everyone’s different…
Matlyn Valentine
Location: Cleveland, OH
Sentence: 5 years
Who are YOU trusting with your personal financial information? Valentine was working at the Cuyahoga County Department of Health and Human Services when she stole personal data from two coworkers and set up fake credit card accounts in their names, spending over $13,000 of money that was not hers on internet shopping. In addition to a prison term, she is going to have to make restitution payments to her victims.
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