FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
December 22, 2016
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
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ATTORNEY GENERAL LUTHER STRANGE, JOINED BY OZARK POLICE CHIEF
MARLOS WALKER AND BALDWIN COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE OFFICIALS,
ANNOUNCE ARRESTS IN A DEBIT CARD SKIMMING OPERATION THAT
CROSSED ALABAMA AND SURROUNDING STATES
(MONTGOMERY) – Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, joined by Ozark Police
Chief Marlos Walker and Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office representatives, announced
Thursday the arrests of two individuals for their role in an apparent multi-state debit
card skimming scheme that bilked unsuspecting victims in Alabama and surrounding
states of thousands of dollars.
On December 21, 2016, Reiner Perez Rives, age 34 and Eunises Llorca Meneses, age 30,
both of the Orlando, Florida area, were apprehended by deputies of the Baldwin
County Sheriff’s Office and investigators of the Attorney General’s Office. Rives and
Meneses face charges from the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office for Trafficking in Stolen
Identities, Identity Theft and an Illegally Obtained or an Illegally Possessed Credit
Card. Rives also awaits 15 counts of Identity Theft to be served by the Ozark Police
Department. Additional charges may be filed in both jurisdictions and in surrounding
states pending further review of recovered evidence and the identification of other
victims.
On December 13, 2016, the Ozark Police Department contacted investigators of the
Alabama Attorney General’s Office seeking assistance in solving approximately eight
identity theft cases that had occurred within two days. Investigators traced five of the
thefts to a local gas station where a skimming device wrapped in electrical tape was
bundled with wires inside a gas pump. The two suspects were later identified after one
of the victim’s debit cards was traced to an unauthorized purchase at a Bristol, Virginia
gas station. A surveillance video of the suspect’s license plate revealed a rental car
linked to Reiner Perez Rives. Attorney General investigators, working with the Ozark
Police Department, tracked Rives and Meneses to Texas. The suspects were
apprehended as they traveled back through Alabama by the Baldwin County Sheriff’s
Office which was alerted by the Attorney General’s Office.
The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office and agents of the Attorney General’s Office seized
from the suspects $6,490 in cash, 39 stolen debit card numbers with PINs and an
additional 315 gift cards with an undetermined amount of personal information. Rives
and Meneses are currently being held in the Baldwin County jail.
501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.alabama.gov Page 2 of 2
“Thanks to the vigilance of two south Alabama law enforcement agencies on opposite
sides of the state working with investigators from the Attorney General’s Office, two
operators of a multi-state debit card skimming operation are behind bars today and
their crime spree is at an end,” said Attorney General Strange.
“I would like to commend the Ozark Police Department for alerting agents of the
Attorney General’s Office to a string of identity thefts that quickly turned into a multi-
state surveillance of two individuals believed to be stealing debit card pin numbers of
customers at an Ozark gas station. Additionally, I want to personally thank the
Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office for assisting in the apprehension of the two suspects.
This was a well coordinated law enforcement operation that facilitated the quick
identification and capture of these two individuals.”
Thus far, the Attorney General’s Office has determined that victims’ card information
has been used by the suspects in Marianna, Midway, Ocala and Orlando, Florida; in
Athens, Clanton, Falkville, Huntsville, Madison, Montgomery, and Prattville, Alabama;
Baileytown, Bristol, Cookville, Kingston Knoxville, Lenoir City and Rockwood,
Tennessee; and in Bristol, Ellison, Meadowview and Wytheville, Virginia.
“We are working with federal law enforcement and other local and state agencies
throughout the southeast to identify other victims and more points of compromise.
People living near or traveling through these areas should check their bank and credit
card statements for any unusual activity and report it to their local law enforcement,”
said Attorney General Strange.
Attorney General Strange further added that the public should be particularly vigilant
while using debit and credit cards at gas stations. “When buying gas it is best to
directly pay the service station attendant rather than at the pump. Furthermore, avoid
using debit cards to buy gas since PIN numbers are easier for skimmers to steal. Be
cautious this Christmas season and don’t take chances with your hard-earned money.”
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