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Louisiana Man Sentenced for Massive Credit Card Fraud Scheme Involving Thousands of Victims

Louisiana – On July 5, 2022, U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that on June 30, 2022 United States District Judge Eldon E. Fallon sentenced Maurice Durio, age 42, a New Orleans, Louisiana, native to 108 months (9 years) in federal prison for his role in a massive credit card fraud scheme, .

Durio previously pleaded guilty to a charge of credit card fraud, according to court records. Durio admitted under oath that he began making fraudulent credit cards in New Orleans before renting office space in a Houston office park to expand his operation. He outfitted the area with counterfeit credit card manufacturing equipment. Durio and his co-defendant, Edward Toliver, who also ran a card manufacturing plant in the same office park, obtained hundreds of thousands of stolen credit card numbers over the next several years from a variety of sources, including a computer hacker Toliver met in prison and by purchasing them on the dark web.

Durio and Toliver created or downloaded credit card templates on laptop computers, then transferred stolen credit card numbers into the templates, which were then used to create tens of thousands of fraudulent access devices. The cards were typically printed in batches, with the same name appearing on multiple cards. The name was usually a co-real conspirator’s name. The cards were embossed with numbers, and the corresponding account information was encoded on the back strips.

The names of the co-conspirators and card users did not match the names of the actual account holders, who had not given permission for their accounts to be used. Durio and Toliver distributed thousands of fraudulent access devices to a variety of people, who then used them to obtain valuable items such as merchandise and gift cards.

The Secret Service, with the assistance of local law enforcement, investigated a number of incidents in which people were caught with cards made at Durio and Toliver’s Houston plants. Agents were able to link the card seizures to the plants where Durio and Toliver were producing the cards using a variety of methods.

A federal search warrant was executed in July 2014 at the Houston office park, and agents seized device manufacturing equipment, including embossers, scanners, and high-end printers, as well as thousands of cards and a laptop computer. The computer contained approximately 80,000 credit card numbers in files, as well as spreadsheets used to transfer the card numbers from the text files obtained via the dark web to the actual credit cards. Agents also obtained Durio and Toliver’s other laptops, which contained approximately 300,000 additional card numbers.

To monetize the fraudulent credit card production, the scheme employed a variety of methods. Durio and Toliver would begin by simply selling cards. The buyer would pay them a set amount and then keep whatever they bought with the cards. Second, Durio and Toliver would give out cards with the expectation that the recipient would buy merchandise, then sell it at a discount for cash and keep a portion of the proceeds. Third, Durio and Toliver would provide cards, and the person receiving them would purchase gift cards, some of which were returned.

Special Agents of the United States Secret Service investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney David Haller is in charge of the prosecution.

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