Three individuals have been sentenced to significant prison terms for their involvement in a credit card skimming operation that targeted customers at retail stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Gheorge-Ciprian Hilitanu, Victor Tecu, and Ionut Firan-Alexandrau pleaded guilty to multiple felonies related to the scheme, which affected at least 783 victims in July 2025, as announced by the Dallas County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center led the investigation, uncovering that the defendants had installed hidden skimming devices on payment terminals at CVS and Walgreens. These devices captured sensitive debit and credit card information.
Following their arrests, law enforcement executed a search warrant at a rental property where the suspects were staying, recovering over 150 skimming devices, 237 re-encoded gift cards with stolen data, and equipment for producing counterfeit cards.
Hilitanu received a 30-year sentence for engaging in organized criminal activity, while Tecu and Firan-Alexandrau were each sentenced to 20 years. Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot emphasized the impact of such financial crimes on everyday individuals. The district attorney's office also provided tips for consumers to safeguard against skimming, such as inspecting card readers and monitoring account activity regularly.
