Two illegal aliens from Romania have been sentenced for stealing money from Americans by installing “skimmers” on grocery store point-of-sale machines in Alabama and Mississippi.
Criminals install fake card readers in high-traffic areas, such as gas stations, grocery stores, and liquor stores, to capture card data. Then, those criminals can clone cards and spend other people’s money, or sell them on the dark web.
On March 26, 2026, a federal judge sentenced 24-year-old Denis Adelin Ionescu, of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania, to 46 months in prison, and 33-year-old Ioan Victor Stanciu, also of Drobeta-Turnu Severin, to 24 months in prison.
Ionescu previously pleaded guilty to possession of device-making equipment, while Stanciu pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud. There is no parole in the federal system.
According to plea agreements and other court records, in March 2025, law enforcement began investigating the installation of a “skimmer” device on a point-of-sale terminal at a grocery store in Ozark, Alabama. Investigators quickly identified Ionescu and Stanciu, along with others, as suspects in the scheme.
A “skimmer” is an electronic device used to capture and store information from credit, debit, or Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards when they are swiped or inserted. After installing these devices, members of the conspiracy, including Ionescu and Stanciu, retrieved the skimmers and extracted stolen account information. The conspirators then used the compromised data to conduct fraudulent transactions, including unauthorized withdrawals and purchases.
The post below shows that card skimmers are hard to detect.
More than 50 Charged in Thefts of Millions of Dollars in California Benefits for Low-Income Families https://t.co/0RET6pyCz4 Pictures of overlay skimmers and a surveillance video of a defendant installing one on a point-of-sale terminal. pic.twitter.com/FBD6HxUogD
— US Attorney CAS (@SDCAnews) March 10, 2026
Further investigation revealed that Ionescu and Stanciu were linked to additional skimming devices installed at retail locations in Dothan, Alexander City, Eufaula, Bessemer, Tuscaloosa, Gadsden, Mobile, Talladega, and Gulfport, Mississippi. In total, the conspirators placed 23 skimming devices at 12 separate locations.
Based on the volume of compromised card data, the intended loss was calculated at $1.79 million. The actual loss attributable to known fraudulent transactions was $50,978.
The court ordered restitution in that amount.
A co-conspirator, Marian Catalin Matei, 24, also a Romanian national, previously pleaded guilty to possession of device-making equipment and is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21, 2026.
The United States Secret Service, Bessemer Police Department, and Ozark Police Department investigated the case, with Assistant United States Attorney Joel Feil prosecuting.
In 2025, the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners visited more than 9,000 businesses nationwide and removed 411 illegal skimming devices, preventing an estimated potential loss of more than $428.1 million. In total, nearly 60,000 point-of-sale terminals, gas pumps and ATMs were inspected.
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