Two New York men were arrested after members of the Union Police Department Detective Bureau found ATM skimmers at two township 7-Eleven.
Detectives were contacted by officers from the Roselle Park Police Department who had discovered a skimmer at an 7-Eleven ATM machine in Roselle Park.
Officers stated that they suspected that a skimmer had also been installed at the 7-Eleven store in the Five Points section of Union.
Detectives responded to the scene, where they determined the ATM did in fact have a skimmer installed.
Detectives checked other locations in town and found another skimmer at the 7-Eleven store on Rt. 22 in the center island.
Immediately, detectives notified Springfield Police Department of the officers findings and they checked their 7-Eleven store on Rt. 22, where a skimmer had also been installed.
Following the discoveries, detectives set up surveillance of both locations around 4:30 p.m.
At approximately 9:20 p.m., the detectives assigned to the Rt. 22 7-Eleven store observed a man enter the store and go to the ATM machine, then leave the store.
Once the man got into the awaiting car, detectives stopped the vehicle shortly after.
In the vehicle, detectives seized an assortment of disguises, four cell phones and a skimmer.
Both men, later identified as Raul Rusecu, 35, of Brooklyn, NY, and Francesco Lippi, 33, of Queens, NY - were arrested and the car was towed.
Both men are facing a variety of charges, including use of a scanning device, tampering with evidence and hindering apprehension.
Their bail was set at $75,000 each and they were both sent to the Union County Jail.
Neither of the men could give a full address. Detectives are working to determine if either of the men are legally in this country.
We are aware of the recent occurrences of skimmers being installed in the Union County area and are sharing information with other law enforcement agencies.
Cyber-criminals install skimmers, which are essentially malicious card readers that grab the data off the card's magnetic stripe, on to the real payment terminals so that they can harvest data from every person that swipes their cards.
The thief has to come back to the compromised machine to pick up the file containing all the stolen data, but with that information in hand he can create cloned cards or just break into bank accounts to steal money.
This crime is being investigated by Detective Anthony Lagoa.
If anyone has any information, please contact the Union Police Department Detective Bureau at 908-851-5030.