Text Message Scammer Sentenced for Victimizing CU Members

An Arizona man sends fraudulent mobile phone texts to nearly 500,000 people.

Texting scam discovered in Alabama (Image: Shutterstock).

A federal judge sentenced an Arizona man to 32 months in federal prison for sending fraudulent mobile phone text messages to steal money from member accounts of an Alabama credit union.

U.S District Court Judge Myron H. Thompson in Montgomery, Ala., also ordered Iosif Florea, 42, of Phoenix last week to pay more than $17,000 in restitution and three years of supervised release following his prison term. He pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in October 2018.

Federal prosecutors said Florea was involved, along with others not identified in court documents, in a mobile phone text scheme that occurred in March and June of 2015.

Text messages were sent to nearly 500,000 people in Alabama, including to members of the $294 million Alabama State Employees Credit Union in Montgomery. The credit union serves more than 41,000 members.

Federal prosecutors said Florea stole money from about 30 different accounts, but they did not explain why he targeted ASECU or how many members received the phony text messages.

The texts contained a link to a website that claimed to be from ASECU and requested the recipients use the link to verify account information. The link took the text recipients to a fraudulent website where they were prompted to enter their account information, such as their names, debit card numbers, the card’s expiration date, the security code, and their personal identification numbers.

This information was then loaded onto blank debit cards.

According to prosecutors, security videos showed Florea in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas withdrawing money at ATMs using the fake cards with the stolen member information from approximately 30 different accounts.

“This case also serves as an important reminder that consumers must remain on guard when they receive messages that appear to be from trusted financial institutions,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a prepared statement.  “Never respond directly to such texts, emails or phone calls. In this case, the vigilance of consumers and quick action by our investigators and other law enforcement helped to limit the potential for this criminal to inflict greater damage.”