California Cops Nab 2 Armenians for Identity Theft
2010/02/27 | 11:40

world

Polic e arrested two men from Armenia on Friday suspected of running a
sophisticated credit card skimming operation that may have cost San
Francisco Bay Area motorists hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The suspects, identified as David Karapetyan, 31, and Zhiraya
Zamanyan, 30, were being held at County Jail in Martinez on more than
a dozen counts of identity theft and other crimes.

The suspects live in or near Los Angeles. Karapetyan was arrested on
suspicion of conspiracy and 14 counts of identity theft. He was also
booked on an immigration hold because he is an Armenian national,
Martinez police Sgt. Jon Sylvia said to the Contra Costa Times.

Zamanyan was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy and 16 counts of
identity theft.

As of Friday, skimmers – electronic devices capable of stealing credit
card information – had been found on gas pumps in Martinez, Hayward,
Oakland and Sacramento. Unlike traditional gas skimmers, placed on the
outside of pumps, these were inserted inside the pumps, concealing
them from unsuspecting gas customers.

Investigators are not sure how many victims the two men had, but with
losses of $1,500 to $2,000 per victim, the suspects `without a doubt’
stole at least hundreds of thousands of dollars, Sgt. Jon Sylvia said.