3 arrested after skimmer, fraudulent credit cards, drugs found in car

Collier County Sheriff’s Office says Florida Highway Patrol found a skimming device and dozens of fraudulent cards during a traffic stop on Alligator Alley in Collier County. A traffic stop was initially made due to the suspect car having dark window tint. Troopers also found 64 pre-packaged marijuana bags.

According to the report, state troopers could smell the bags as soon as they pulled the car over.

“It’s very sad because you work hard,” Yolanda Eugene said. “For somebody to just get your information and just use it.”

Suspects Athaliah Dickenson, Unique Harris and Donte Powell were all arrested after state troopers searched their car near mile marker 96 on the Alley.

Of the 30 credit cards found, some were re-encoded or with somebody else’s name on it.

“I have had my information stolen at least once or maybe twice,” said.

“One night … I got an alert that somebody was using my card for a jail video call,” Eugene said.

Eugene says nowadays she pays for gas with cash and doesn’t share her numbers over the phone.

“Even over the internet,” Eugene said. “I’m not a credit card person. Anybody, they’ll tell you I tell them, ‘You order something over the internet? I don’t do it. I don’t because of that reason, credit card fraud.”

Rich Kolko, WINK News Safety & Security Specialist, says staying up to date is the best way to make sure your money stays protected

“Pull your credit report on at least an annual basis, and go through your credit card statement every month to make sure there’s not any fraudulent statements on there,” Kolko said.

Kolko also recommends keeping receipts, so it’s easy to keep track of what you’re purchasing on your card.