COVINGTON, La. — A Washington state man has been arrested after St. Tammany and Jefferson Parish officials say he installed credit card skimmers in at least three businesses in St. Tammany and on the east and west banks of Jefferson Parish recently.
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said the skimmers were located at grocery stores in the 9600 block of Jefferson Highway, the 1500 block of Lapalco Blvd. and at three locations in St. Tammany. The discovery of the skimmer on Jefferson Highway came on May 24 when it was discovered by a customer.
The locations where the devices were found in St. Tammany weren't disclosed. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said that they are investigating to see if other locations have been victimized.
Petru Golvan, 32, was booked on three counts of theft by skimming and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith and JP Sheriff Joe Lopinto say they are looking to identify a second person in the case. Golvan is currently incarcerated in Jefferson Parish.
Smith said Golvan was seen on camera installing the devices at the stores. According to Smith, the installation of skimmers inside of businesses is a significant step in criminal activity that shows a brazenness of criminals in an effort to steal customers' cash.
“In the past we have found skimmers on gas pumps and ATM machines,” Sheriff Smith said. “But the criminals are getting more brazen, and we are now starting see a new trend of them being placed on credit/debit card readers at checkouts inside retail stores.”
Smith said he urged residents to closely examine any debit/credit card machines before using them and alerting the businesses if anything looks suspicious.
He said businesses should inspect their machines often to make sure they have not been tampered with and to alert the sheriff’s office if and when they notice a problem.
The JPSO suggests customers opt for the "tap to pay" option instead of swiping your card.
They also said customers could "gently pull at the corners of a point-of-sale device to ensure there is not a skimmer attached to the top."
Skimmer suspects
Petru Golban is pictured below on the right in a white shirt with stripes. Officials are still working to identify the other suspect.
The St. Tammany Sheriff's Office said they would not be naming the stores for two reasons:
1. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴.
2. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.