ERAD Prepaid Card Reader Article - Freezing Assets

"FREEZING ASSETS - New technology helps law enforcement seize funds hidden on criminals’ prepaid cards" By Pat Curry.

Republished with permission from SHERIFF & DEPUTY, January / February 2017.

U.S. law enforcement agencies have a powerful new tool at their disposal: the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate’s Electronic Recovery and Access to Data (ERAD) prepaid card reader. During arrests of criminal couriers, law enforcement officers rarely find bundles of cash wrapped in rubber bands anymore. In-stead, they find stacks of plastic cards—credit and debit cards, retail gift cards, library cards, hotel key cards, even magnetic-striped subway passes