Suspected credit card fraudsters arrested in Secret Service raid on Pembroke Pines home – NBC 6 South Florida

A U.S. Secret Service investigation into a complex credit card fraud scheme led to a raid on a Pembroke Pines home and the arrest of two South Florida men.

The raid occurred Tuesday at a home on Southwest 156th Avenue, where Secret Service agents and Pembroke Pines police were seen documenting several luxury cars, including a Range Rover and at least two Mercedes G-models.

According to a criminal complaint, the raid led to the arrest of Willan Pupo, 36, and Joel Castillo, 38. They face several charges, including conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The investigation apparently began in April 2024 when the Secret Service received information that Pupo and Castillo were involved in an ongoing credit card chargeback scheme, the complaint says.

Broward Sheriff’s Office

Pupo and Castillo used shell companies to rent point-of-sale terminals that allow businesses to accept and process payments from customers and keep track of sales, the lawsuit says.

They then used the terminals to make fraudulent transactions, often using stolen credit card numbers, and then deposited the proceeds into a bank account, the complaint says.

The credit card holders dispute the charges and the card issuers cancel them using a “chargeback” process. However, since the bank account registered with the device no longer has any funds, the credit card company is left with the loss.

A device set up for just one month in February resulted in a total of 268 charges totaling $975,565.10.

The money was quickly transferred to other accounts and just one day after the first transaction, the credit card companies received calls disputing the charges.

Investigators found that 144 transactions were either fraudulent or that the service “was not provided,” the complaint said.

By the time the credit card companies demanded repayment, the proceeds had already evaporated and the credit card company suffered a loss of approximately $966,000.

The application used for the device contained a fake driver’s license and a fraudulent bank statement, the complaint said.

However, investigators found that the IP address used for the application could be traced back to Pupo and his home in Pembroke Pines, the complaint said.

They also discovered that the money had been transferred to an account and that checks had been written from that account to “companies” run by Pupo and Castillo, the complaint states.

A day after the device was deactivated, a new request for another device was submitted and the Secret Service arranged a controlled delivery of the device to Pupo’s home in Pembroke Pines, the complaint states.

Castillo later took it home and used the device to conduct several transactions, the complaint states.

Pupo and Castillo were taken to jail. Attorney information was not available.