Center prevents millions in losses

Austin—In the three years since it officially opened, the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center (FCIC) prevented $273,848,699 in monetary losses due to fraud in Texas and recovered 20,428 credit cards and credit card numbers, as well as 968 credit card skimmers from gas pumps, ATMs and point-of-sale terminals.

The center, the first of its kind in the United States, was created by House Bill 2106 in the 87th Texas Legislature and operates as a partnership between the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and the Smith County District Attorney’s Office. The center’s total two-year budget is $2,650,000.

The FCIC, located in Tyler, includes a Digital Forensics Laboratory that features some of the most sophisticated lab equipment in the state and country. Experts at the laboratory can perform forensics on phones, computers, tablets and skimmers of all types.

As the FCIC’s mission matures, the Center routinely encounters criminal groups and enterprises that were previously unknown in Texas and sometimes nationally. Adding to that the rapid evolution of criminal technology, the FCIC has found new ways to keep up with those changes. The FCIC Digital Forensics Laboratory has led the charge nationally in finding methods to counteract, defeat, and compromise this illicit technology.

TDLR regulates motor fuel metering and quality and collects consumer complaints and merchant reports related to credit card skimmers. The Smith County DA aggressively investigates and prosecutes criminals engaging in organized financial crimes such as fraud related to gasoline pump skimmers.

SOURCE Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation