Crook used counterfeit cards to purchase gift cards

Nov 6, 2014 18:39 GMT  ·  By

A 34-years-old man from Tampa, Florida, was sentenced on Wednesday to serve five years and ten months in a federal jail after he was found guilty of aggravated identity theft.

The fraudster, Ricardo Martinez, pleaded guilty to the charges at the end of July and was ordered to pay restitution to the parties affected by the fraud scheme.

Fraud involving credit and debit cards has become a regular offense over the years and more and more crooks turn to stealing payment information in order to create counterfeit cards with it.

Considering the frequency of data breach incidents lately, the price for card data has dropped significantly. Moreover, the cybercriminals have created a platform for making automated transactions emulating the behavior of a human being.

Martinez was directly involved in obtaining the credit card numbers, which were used to make various purchases that were then exchanged for cash. Court documents say that the crook also bought gift-cards, which are as good as money.

Furthermore, Martinez used the cloned cards to get cash advances from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.

He did not work alone, but there is no information about his accomplices. Also, no details have been provided about the financial damage caused by Martinez and his clique.

The US Secret Service collaborated with multiple law enforcement organizations in order to bring the crook to justice.