BELMONT – A 30-year-old Seattle man has been sentenced to three months in San Mateo County jail for installing a card skimmer and a camera at an ATM in Belmont, prosecutors said.
Nicolae Diaconu on Wednesday pleaded no contest to felony attempted identity theft, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. Judge Sean Dabel placed him on two years of supervised probation on the condition he serves 90 days in jail.
On Dec. 30, Diaconu and an unidentified accomplice inserted a skimmer into the card slot of a Bank of America ATM on Ralston Avenue and set up a camera on an adjacent post, prosecutors said.
The skimmer was discovered and removed by an ATM technician, who contacted Belmont police.
When installed on ATMs, point-of-sale terminals or fuel pumps, skimmers capture data or record the personal identification numbers of cardholders, according to the FBI. Criminals use the data to create fake cards and then steal from victims’ accounts. Skimming is estimated to cost financial institutions and consumers more than $1 billion annually.
Prosecutors said officers were keeping tabs on the ATM when Diaconu returned the following day to retrieve the camera and the skimmer. He tried to run from the officers when they appeared, but he was caught and arrested.
Diaconu is slated to begin serving his jail term on Aug. 5, according to the district attorney’s office.
Source: www.mercurynews.com