Two Romanian nationals accused of planting Birmingham card skimmers on the checkout machines at three Jefferson County businesses are now facing federal charges, and the U.S. Secret Service says the city’s small business scene makes it a “target-rich environment” for the crime.

U.S. Attorney Phil Williams Jr. announced a four-count indictment charging Cosmin Vaduva, 37, and Elena Andree Caldarareasa, 33, with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and possession of device-making equipment, the federal term for a skimmer.

According to the indictment, the pair installed skimmers at three Jefferson County businesses on February 24 and 25.

The case began at a Family Dollar on Alemeda Avenue Southwest in Birmingham, where Secret Service agents and the Birmingham Cyber Fraud Task Force recovered a skimming device in late February, according to federal court records reported by WBRC.

Agents canvassed dozens of stores from there and turned up more devices in Birmingham, Leeds, Vestavia Hills, Homewood and Midfield.

One of those stores was the Food Outlet in Tarrant, which had already posted the pair’s photo on the wall with the words “We are looking for you.” Court records say the store’s surveillance video showed Vaduva planting the skimmer while Caldarareasa kept the clerk busy and positioned herself to block the clerk’s line of sight.

Store video gave investigators a suspect identification, a vehicle description and a license plate within days. On March 12, an automated license plate reader flagged the pair’s white Toyota Highlander on Interstate 55 in Mississippi, and a Grenada County sheriff’s deputy pulled them over.

Mississippi officers seized skimmers, roughly 15 counterfeit cards and more than $10,000 in cash, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Court records say the skimmers were stashed in a hidden compartment in the SUV’s center console next to tools for building and servicing the devices.

The Grenada County Sheriff’s Office said the two were also wanted in Louisiana and Texas.

On March 23, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana booked them on six counts of anti-skimming violations and six counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud tied to skimmers found at stores in Metairie, Gretna and Kenner.

Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, put the losses in national terms.

“Skimmer fraud is rampant with losses in the United States alone reaching over $1 billion each year,” Williams said.

“It is a silent insidious theft that occurs by merely swiping a credit card at a point of sale without realizing that thieves have placed a data skimming device on the card machine. Nationwide the Department of Justice is pursuing the apprehension and ultimate conviction of skimmer thieves. I’m glad to see this indictment and look forward to the prosecution of Vaduva and Caldarareasa.”

Romanian Nationals Arraigned in Federal Court for Alleged Card-Skimming Scheme

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— US Attorney NDAL (@NDALnews) September 16, 2026

Patrick Glaze, special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Birmingham Field Office, said the city’s business makeup works in the criminals’ favor.

“The Birmingham area is a target-rich environment for illegal skimmers. The high concentration of small, locally owned businesses in and around the city makes it easier for criminals to install these devices,” Glaze said.

“Illegal credit card skimming can have devastating financial ramifications on innocent, law-abiding citizens who are victimized by this insidious fraud. That is why the U.S. Secret Service has devoted significant resources toward combatting this criminal effort. I want to commend all of our Federal, state and local partners who helped us with this operation.”

The federal complaint that first charged the pair in March described the operation as public assistance fraud, with the skimmers built to capture EBT card data and clone it onto new cards. The Alabama Department of Human Resources logged nearly 40,000 stolen SNAP benefit claims from 2023 through 2025 totaling more than $16.5 million, according to WBRC. Alabama EBT cards now block out-of-state and online transactions, and DHR rolled out chip-enabled cards in February.

The case falls under the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division, created April 7 to prosecute fraud against the American people in support of President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance.

The Secret Service and the Birmingham Cyber Fraud Task Force investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan S. Cross and John B. Ward are prosecuting.