Two Malaysians arrested in fake ATM fraud case
JANUARY 18, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — Two Malaysians were arrested today for allegedly being members of a counterfeit ATM card gang near the Malaysian-Thai border today, according to the Bangkok Post.
The 45-year-old man and his wife, 38, were suspected of being members of an ATM skimming gang hunted by the Thai and Malaysian authorities.
Police said that the couple checked into the Paramount Hotel in Dannok and were arrested after Thai banks alerted the police, said Pol Capt Seksan Ongart, deputy chief of the Songkhla immigration bureau, as quoted by the Bangkok Post.
He added that the pair visited Thailand several times to use the counterfeit cards to withdraw money from ATMs in different locations. The banks gave pictures of the couple withdrawing money from several ATMs to the police, which led to their arrest.
Thai police found eight ATM and credit cards from various Thai and Malaysian banks, a blank ATM card and Malaysian and Thai currency worth 500,000 baht (RM50,000). It is believed that the blank card held bank account details of victims who had their account hacked by the gang.
The couple told the police that they obtained the cards from two Malaysians who were arrested by Malaysian police on December 29. Four out of the 10 known members of the gang have already been arrested so far.
Thai police are launching an investigation into the security camera records of all banks in the Songkhla province to check for additional footage of the couple.
