'Serial Fraudster' Sentenced to Four Years for Stealing Thousands From CU Members
Winston Gray uses cloned cards to access accounts at Rivermark Community CU and OnPoint Community CU.
An Oregon man, who prosecutors called a serial fraudster, was sentenced last week to four years in federal prison for stealing $60,000 from more than 80 credit union members in just two weeks.
U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut in Portland also ordered Winston E. Gray, 31, of Beaverton, to pay restitution and serve four years of supervised release following his prison term.
Police began investigating Gray after receiving information from a fraud investigator at the $1.2 billion Rivermark Community Credit Union in Beaverton, Ore., that reported the suspicious activity.
From late March to early April 2020, Gray sent members at Rivermark Community and the $8.2 billion OnPoint Community Credit Union in Portland phony text messages asking them to confirm or deny transactions. When members denied transactions, they received a phone call from a person purporting to be a credit union employee asking for their debit card number and PIN to disable their card, according to federal prosecutors. Gray then cloned members’ cards and their information on a magnetic strip by using software or an electronic device to gain unauthorized access to their accounts. He used these cards to make a wave of unauthorized purchases and ATM withdrawals at financial institutions throughout the greater Portland metropolitan area.
Using security videos and photos, police captured a disguised Gray making the purchases and ATM withdrawals as well as the make, model and license plate number on his car.
What’s more, investigators discovered Gray was still on supervised release for a prior conviction of assault and making false statements.
The fraudulent scheme caused OnPoint Community to report losses of $41,008 while Rivermark Community reported losses of $32,838 for a total loss of nearly $74,000, according to court documents.
Gray’s restitution, however, was capped at $60,000 because at the time he was committing these crimes, there was another group in Portland that was engaged in the same type of behavior, prosecutors said.
“Many of the bank photos of the perpetrators were unclear, and the government could not prove that it was (Gray) who committed all of these offenses,” prosecutors wrote in court documents. “Consequently, the parties agreed that the losses caused by Gray for restitution purposes is $60,000.”