Security

3 men arrested for ATM scam

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February 12, 2026

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Three men from Romania were arrested in Orange County, California after allegedly running an ATM scam.

The men would allegedly approach a victim and drop cash in front of them. The suspect would then get the victim to pick up the money, while a second suspect moves around to swap the victim's ATM card with a fake one, according to a report by NBC Los Angeles.

From there, the suspects used the ATM card to make withdrawals and steal cash. The men are Romita Achitei, 61, Paul Agafitei, 43 and George Asafiei, 46.

"The suspects typically follow the victim to the parking lot and attempt to distract them by dropping cash on the ground and insisting it belongs to the victim," the sheriff's department stated in a statement. "This ultimately causes enough of a distraction to allow the suspects to steal the victim's debit card and make numerous bank withdrawals prior to the victim having knowledge of the theft of the debit card."

The three suspects are facing charges of grand theft, identity theft and forgery.

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