By Marley Seaman
On July 25, Nassau County police arrested two men -- Gurudutt Joshi, 33, of Jamaica and Shahbaz Ahmed, 37, of Forest Hills -- who worked at the Exxon-Mobil gas station at 144 Hempstead Turnpike. According to police, Ahmed provided a "skimmer" -- a pocket-sized device that reads and stores credit card numbers -- to Joshi. After charging customers for their purchases, Joshi would swipe their credit cards through Ahmed's skimmer, collecting the credit card ID number and other information, including the names of the cards' owners. The fraud "only happened in cases where victims had to give up the card to the attendant," said Detective Sgt. Lucy Graziano.
Together, the men are accused of multiple incidents of fraud between Feb. 14 and June 22. According to police, they used the money to purchase gift cards and items at department stores and jewelry and liquor stores. They also made purchases over the phone and the Internet.
Police said that Joshi and Ahmed met periodically to load the stolen credit card numbers onto a laptop. Using blank cards with magnetic strips, the men were able to create new, valid credit cards using the information they stole.
Police are investigating the possibility that others were involved in the fraud, and that there may be more victims.
"I won't use my credit card any more," station customer Peter White said. White, who said he wasn't aware of the scam, added that he would instead resort to a more secure method of payment. "I'll just use cash," he said.
Police launched an investigation after banks affected by the transactions, which included Citigroup, American Express and Chase, became suspicious. Joshi was arrested at the Exxon Mobil station on July 25. He has been charged with four crimes, including first-degree identity theft and third-degree grand larceny. Ahmed was arrested that night in Queens, and faces the same charges, as well as one felony count of possession of a forged device.
Skimmers are legal to own, and are sold in many retail stores and on the Internet. Police warn that it is fairly easy for anyone who gets hold of a credit card to skim the information. "The less time that [the card] is out of your hands, the better," Graziano said, advising credit card users to "be diligent in tracking your finances."
Comments about this story? MSeaman@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.
