Soho Credit Card Skimmer Sentenced To Prison: Prosecutors

SOHO, NY — A Bronx woman was sentenced to serve at least one year in prison after she admitted to stealing customers' credit card information at the Soho restaurant where she worked as a cashier, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance announced that Aida Matias had been given a 1- to 3-year prison sentence after she confessed to using stolen credit card data to make fraudulent purchases.

Matias, 23, worked as a cashier at a Le Pain Quotidien restaurant for about three months in 2016, during which prosecutors said she used a skimming device to steal credit card information from more than 70 customers. Matias used forged credit cards to shop at luxury retailers including Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s, and Louis Vuitton, and even reserved a premium Manhattan hotel suite for herself and others, according to a statement from Vance's office.

When investigators searched Matias's apartment, they said they found forgery devices and about 15 forged credit cards.

"Going cashless is becoming more and more common, but these convenient transactions often represent opportunities for ID thieves," Vance said in a statement. "In this case, a cashier used a handheld skimming device to steal credit card information from more than 70 customers at a popular lunch chain. These points of compromise can occur anywhere—from ATMs to hospitals—and I encourage individuals to monitor their financial statements closely to identify and catch signs of similar fraud."

Matias pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including identity theft, forgery and grand larceny, in February.

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