ATM Skimmer Pleads Guilty

A suspect linked to an ATM skimming scheme in New England, impacting more than 250 bank accounts, has pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Gabriella Graham, a 21-year-old who once lived in New London, Conn., on Dec. 19 told a U.S. Court in New Haven that she helped produce counterfeit ATM/debit cards with skimmed card data, copied PINs and occasionally used the counterfeit cards to make unauthorized ATM cash withdrawals. She also told the court she served as a lookout while two other co-conspirators installed and removed skimming devices.

According to the Nov. 15 indictment, Graham and co-conspirators Mehmet Aydin, 42, and Ahmet Cilek, 40, both of Turkey but living in New York, between February 2011 and July 2011 targeted ATMs at 11 banks and one credit union in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Their alleged skimming attacks resulted in financial losses of more than $335,000.

Sentencing for Graham has been set for March 8. She could face 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Trial dates for Aydin and Cilek have not been set.

ATM Skimming: An Epidemic
The New England scheme is just one in a long line of ATM skimming scams upon which authorities have been closing books ...

Posted in: Debit Card Fraud Deposit Account Fraud Credit Card Fraud Account Takeover Identity Theft