10 People Stole EBT Card Info To Buy Energy Drinks: Middlesex County Prosecutor

Ten people have been arrested and charged with skimming people’s Electronic Benefits Transfer card accounts across five New Jersey counties, Pennsylvania and New York, authorities announced Monday, July 14.

Handcuffs

In February 2025, the defendants began installing skimming devices at points of sale at various businesses to obtain people’s EBT account info, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Highland Park Police Department Chief Richard Abrams said.

They would then use that stolen information to make their own debit cards which they used to make bulk purchases of energy drinks and baby formula at retail establishments in Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Somerset, and Union counties, as well as in New York and Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Searches executed by the Highland Park Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office yielded over one hundred EBT cards with stickers containing a PIN and amount loaded onto each card, up-to-date skimmer and encoder devices, as well as proceeds and products from these thefts, authorities said.

Arrested were Maru Dumitru, Stefan Lautaru, Boby-Stefan Degeratu, Gabriela Ilie, Claudiu Padeanu, Demetria Costache, Mensi Dumitru, Albert Enciu, Florin Badea and Gheorghe Miclescu.

They face charges of trafficking personal information, authorities said.