Florida

Florida Man Gets 6 Years in Prison for Credit Card Scam

A federal judge in New Jersey sentenced a Florida man to 6 years in prison Tuesday for running a website that sold fake credit and debit cards.

Sean Roberson pleaded guilty last fall to two counts of fraud conspiracy for his role in the scam that authorities say created about $30 million in losses.

Roberson has said he made more than $1.7 million.

The 40-year-old Palm Bay resident admitted launching the fakeplastic.net website in 2012 to cater to criminals who possessed stolen identification data and used the website to buy counterfeit debit and credit cards as well as holographic stickers that could be used to make fake driver's licenses. 

The stolen data usually was bought from others who obtained it by illegally installing monitoring equipment in ATMs to read card numbers and other related information, known as skimming.

The website filled orders for about 69,000 counterfeit payment cards and more than 35,000 holographic stickers and 30,000 state identification card holographic overlays, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Orders were filled through the U.S. mail.

Under terms of his sentencing in Newark, Roberson also must pay about $3.6 million in restitution.

Two other men pleaded guilty previously to participating in the scam and were sentenced to three years and one year in prison, respectively.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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