Deputies: Pair hid fraudulent credit cards, skimming devices under vehicle

IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — Two men have been charged after deputiessaid they found fraudulent credit cards and skimming devices during a traffic stop in Iredell County.

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Deputies said they pulled over Amaury Abreu Gonzalez, 47, and Michael Perez, 25, around 8 a.m. Monday on Charlotte Highway in Mooresville for a traffic violation.

After talking to the men, deputies found probable cause to search the vehicle.

According to deputies, the search revealed several credit cards and nearly a dozen credit card skimmers hidden in two magnetized containers under the vehicle -- one near the drive shaft and another in a wheel well.

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Deputies said the credit cards had fraudulent information on them and the pair were arrested.

Gonzalez and Perez have been charged with five counts of felony possession of counterfeit instruments and 10 counts of card theft with a scanning device. Gonzalez was also issued a citation for the traffic violation.

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Both men were taken to the Iredell County Detention Center and are being held under $300,000 bond.

Deputies said additional charges are expected to come.

Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell said the way the skimmers and fraudulent credit cards were hidden, it reminded him of tactics used by drug cartels.

“We see that with a lot of large-scale cartel drug carriers to go to the extent of having a magnetized box attached to the underneath,” he said. “They obviously did not want it stolen or found by anyone else.”

Campbell said actually catching someone with skimmers is fairly rare for law enforcement.

“It’s very odd that we catch the skimming devices,” he said. “It gives us an insight into how big the problem is … and this is some of the most recent technology we’ve seen in skimmers.”

Authorities said its unclear at this point in the investigation how much personal information the skimmers may contain.

Cox Media Group