Credit card skimming ring stretched from Sunset Valley to Round Rock

Catalina Jaimes-Ferrara and Miguel A Naranjo-Villadoniga
Catalina Jaimes-Ferrara and Miguel A Naranjo-Villadoniga

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) – A woman working at a Sunset Valley restaurant used a credit card skimmer to steal information from more than 500 customers, according to an arrest affidavit.

Catalina Jaimes-Ferrara, 23, was arrested Friday in Travis County on new charges of fraudulently using and possessing identifying information. The man she was allegedly selling the information to, 22-year-old Miguel Naranjo-Villadoniga, was also arrested on the same charges in Williamson County.

Naranjo-Villadoniga was first arrested in April after Round Rock police found him using stolen credit card information to purchase gas, an arrest affidavit said. Police said he used gift cards with the stolen information to purchase more than $5,000 worth of gas from stores in Austin and Round Rock.

Video showing the female suspect skimming the credit card. (RRPD)
Video showing the female suspect skimming the credit card. (RRPD)

After police contacted Chase Bank about the charges, they were able to find all of the victims had used their card in late March at a Chipotle restaurant on Brodie Lane in Sunset Valley. Round Rock police used surveillance video to identify Jaimes-Ferrara as the employee swiping the cards using a handheld device.

During an undercover operation, police said they witnessed Jaimes-Ferrara use the device three times in an eight minute span. After confronting her, the cashier told police she was to receive $10 for each credit card number she provided to Naranjo-Villadoniga.

Police said the skimmer contained 527 credit card numbers.

Authorities said the Chipotle store fully cooperated with police during the investigation and fired Jaimes-Ferrara as soon as they became aware of the crime.