Three members of a credit card skimming ring have been sentenced to significant prison terms following their guilty pleas to multiple felonies. The Dallas County Criminal District Attorney's Office reported that Gheorge-Ciprian Hilitanu, Victor Tecu, and Ionut Firan-Alexandrau targeted customers at CVS and Walgreens across North Texas in July 2025, stealing financial information from at least 783 victims.
The Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center led the investigation, revealing that the defendants installed concealed skimming devices on payment terminals to capture debit and credit card data. Following their arrests, agents executed a search warrant at an Airbnb, uncovering over 150 skimming devices, 237 re-encoded gift cards with stolen information, and equipment for manufacturing counterfeit cards.
On June 25, 2026, Hilitanu was sentenced to 30 years for organized criminal activity and related charges, while Tecu and Firan-Alexandrau received 20-year sentences each. Dallas County Criminal District Attorney John Creuzot emphasized the impact of financial crimes on everyday people and noted that the sentences reflect the severity of the offenses.
The district attorney's office advised consumers to inspect card readers and monitor account activity to protect against skimming.
