A traffic stop in Lincoln on Thursday led to the arrest of two men accused of credit card skimming, according to the Lancaster County Sherriff’s Office.
Members of the Lancaster County Criminal Interdiction Unit pulled over a vehicle for following too closely while traveling westbound I-80. During the stop, Chief Deputy Ben Houchin says deputies conducted a search and discovered a credit card skimming device, various tools, multiple Visa Green Dot credit cards—some unused and preloaded—as well as several other Visa cards and over $17,000 in cash.
The driver, 56-year-old Mate Eross of Brooklyn, New York, and the passenger, 43-year-old Frank Delgado of Orlando, Florida, were arrested and booked into the Lancaster County Jail for felony unlawful possession of a skimming device. Both men also had immigration detainers placed on them by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“We still have a lot of investigation to do to see what’s on the cards, how much money is on them, and all that,” Lancaster County Sheriff’s officials stated. “We do not know where they were going—they both told us two different locations.”
Authorities say they have not yet determined whether the suspects placed skimming devices on gas pumps in Lancaster County or surrounding areas.
“When you lose your credit card information and somebody starts using it, it’s extremely frustrating,” officials said. “This was a good stop.”
The investigation is ongoing.