Cosmin Vaduva and Elena Andree Caldarareasa

Charged, not convicted. Vaduva, 37, and Caldarareasa, 33, have been indicted on conspiracy to commit access device fraud and possession of device-making equipment. An indictment contains only charges, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Introduction

Cosmin Vaduva, 37, and Elena Andree Caldarareasa, 33 — two Romanian nationals — have been charged in a four-count federal indictment with conspiracy to commit access device fraud and possession of device-making equipment, the credit-card skimming hardware that secretly captures card data at payment terminals . The case, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama on September 16, 2026, alleges the pair installed skimmers at three businesses in Jefferson County in late February 2026 and were caught eleven days later in Mississippi with skimmers, roughly fifteen counterfeit cards, and more than $10,000 in cash . They were arraigned in federal court in Birmingham and are prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan S. Cross and John B. Ward .

Background Information

According to the indictment, the defendants installed skimming devices at three businesses located in Jefferson County, Alabama, with the alleged incidents occurring on February 24 and 25, 2026 . On March 12, 2026, the two were arrested in Grenada County, Mississippi, where law enforcement officers seized skimmers, approximately fifteen counterfeit cards, and more than $10,000 in cash . The United States Secret Service investigated the case along with the Birmingham Cyber Fraud Task Force, and the announcement ties the prosecution to the Department of Justice’s National Fraud Enforcement Division created in April 2026 under President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Skimming works by fitting an ordinary-looking reader over a point-of-sale terminal so that a customer’s card data is copied during an everyday transaction — U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr. described it as “a silent insidious theft that occurs by merely swiping a credit card at a point of sale without realizing that thieves have placed a data skimming device on the card machine” . The indictment alleges Vaduva and Caldarareasa ran exactly that method across three Jefferson County businesses on two consecutive days in February 2026 . The March 12 arrest across the state line in Mississippi, and the seizure inventory — the devices themselves, a stack of counterfeit cards, and cash — is what converted a complaint about tampered terminals into a federal fraud case with both defendants in custody . Every element remains an allegation the government must prove at trial .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Williams used the announcement to size the problem nationally: “Skimmer fraud is rampant with losses in the United States alone reaching over $1 billion each year,” and said the department is “pursuing the apprehension and ultimate conviction of skimmer thieves” . Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Patrick Glaze, of the Birmingham Field Office, framed the local exposure: “The Birmingham area is a target-rich environment for illegal skimmers. The high concentration of small, locally owned businesses in and around the city makes it easier for criminals to install these devices” . He added that illegal credit-card skimming “can have devastating financial ramifications on innocent, law-abiding citizens who are victimized by this insidious fraud” .

Current Status

Vaduva and Caldarareasa have been arraigned in the Northern District of Alabama on the four-count indictment; the release does not state the disposition of their detention or set a trial date . No pleas have been entered and no convictions exist; the case proceeds on the presumption of innocence the announcement itself restates . The seized devices, counterfeit cards, and cash remain the government’s core exhibits for a trial that has yet to be scheduled .

Impact on Their Career/Life

For two foreign nationals, a federal fraud indictment compounds: conviction would carry imprisonment and, almost inevitably, immigration consequences beyond the sentence itself, though the announcement does not address immigration status. Whatever the outcome, the case documents the skimming trade’s supply chain — devices installed on an ordinary business day, monetized through counterfeit cards, and collapsed in a single Mississippi traffic-era arrest — and places both defendants at the center of a Secret Service investigation that treats payment-terminal tampering as fraud enforcement’s front line.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama, “Romanian Nationals Arraigned in Federal Court for Alleged Card-Skimming Scheme,” September 16, 2026 — source