New Hampshire Police Crack Down on Skimmer Scams and Crypto Rackets

Concord Police in New Hampshire arrested a Romanian man named Teofil Bortos for forgery and identity fraud. He was found to have hundreds of cloned debit cards, piles of cash, and little machines used to skim access data from card machine readers.

Bortos's scam involved using the cashback feature on store registers to withdraw large amounts of cash. The cloned cards were connected to real bank accounts but made with stolen information.

While skimmer fraud is relatively rare in New Hampshire, Detective Steven Carter warns that fraud and scams are on the rise in the area and statewide.

Carter advises people to tap to pay rather than inserting a card, as it's the safest way to use a debit or credit card. He also notes that newer technologies, known as 'deep insert skimmers,' can record PINs through a pinhole camera and are most common on ATMs and gas pumps.

Crypto ATM scams are another growing concern in Concord. Scammers target people with urgent demands, often claiming to be from law enforcement or the government, and direct them to transfer money into cryptocurrency accounts. The state has capped deposits at $2,000 and requires crypto ATM companies to refund scam victims who report within two weeks.