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U.S. Secret Service joins probe into credit-card fraud in L.A.

07 January 2011 01:53 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The U.S. Secret Service is joining a probe into a credit-card fraud involving a gas station in Sierra Madre, Los Angeles, authorities said on Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

A total of 282 victims have been identified in the fraud which led to losses topping 82,000 dollars, Sierra Madre Mayor Joe Mosca said.

Police say 75 percent of the victims are local residents who used credit cards at the station.

"The nature of this crime and the number of people it has affected is highly unusual in Sierra Madre," Mosca said.

The investigation may extend to a second gas station in the city, Mosca said.

Detectives are turning their attention to a man who allegedly used a clone card at a local bank, according to a report by The Los Angeles Times.

Police are seeking to question the owner of EVG Quality Gas, identified as Evgeny K. Yakimenko, who has not been seen since the station closed shortly after Christmas, the report said.

Chief Marilyn Diaz of the Sierra Madre Police Department said the credit and debit cards used at the station were skimmed using a special electronic device, and in some cases cloned cards were created.

A cloned card is a fake card created with someone’s stolen number.

"The cards were used in the days after Christmas when people aren’t paying as much attention to their bills," Diaz said.

Investigators have released the image of a man using such a card at a local ATM to withdraw money.

Most of the multiple transaction cases involved ATM and retail transactions. Six cases involved six transactions each, and one involved nine transactions. The highest loss from an individual case was 3,782 dollars, according to the report.