Credit card skimmers scamming

A little catching up this afternoon ...

Four men were in custody today in connection with a credit card theft ring that used a portable scanner the size of two fingers to swipe credit card numbers at at least two gas stations in Sylmar and Newhall, police said this morning.

The scheme is alleged to have occurred Tuesday when a trio of men paid a $200 bribe to a Sylmar Mobil gas station clerk to have him use their portable scanner to steal customers' credit card numbers in transactions, said Los Angeles Police Lt. Loren Farell, who heads the Valley Forgery Section.

The men are believed to have also attempted to use the device at another gas station near Magic Mountain, Farell said. An employee at that gas station became suspicious and notified police, Farell said. The manager of the Sylmar gas station happened to be reviewing surveillance video and saw the suspects hanging around his station on Tuesday and police connected the suspects to the crime there, Farell said.

The suspects were identified as 18-year-old Tigran and Gevorg Vardanyan, 20, and Armen Sukiasyan, 19. All are from Van Nuys. All were being held on credit card theft charges at the Los Angeles County Jail.

The name of the clerk who allegedly took the bribe was not immediately available.

A check of Los Angeles County Superior criminal court records online shows that Gevorg Vardanyan was arrested in 2006 in connection with a vandalism case, charges that were later dropped. Farell said he believes the arrest occurred at a school, but had no details.

Forgery detectives are investigating the scope of the scheme, whether the men were involved in other similar cases around the region and who might have put them up to it.

Farell said that this was the first case he has seen in which someone has used a device that is so small, saying it was the size of two fingers.

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