Two Malaysians arrested for possessing ATM skimming equipment

[Windsor]

Two Malaysians arrested for possessing ATM skimming equipment

AsiaOne
Friday, Jan 13, 2012
SINGAPORE - Police have arrested two Malaysians who may be involved in the recent ATM skimming scam that affected some 400 DBS/POSB customers and saw a total of $500,000 fraudulently withdrawn.

The two Chinese men, aged 27 and 39, were caught yesterday in a hotel in Lorong 22 Geylang, during an island-wide operation by the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

The duo was found with an assortment of gadgets used for ATM skimming, including a customised panel with a pin-hole camera and a simulated Foreign Device Inhibitor (FDI) believed to have been fitted with a card skimming device.

"Police investigations are ongoing to determine the involvement of the two subjects in the spate of ATM skimming cases reported in the Bugis area," SPF said.
The two men will be charged in court tomorrow. If found guilty, they face a jail term of up to 10 years, or a fine, or both.

SPF has reminded the public to stay vigilant and to observe ATMs for signs of tampering before making cash withdrawals.
[email protected]

http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120113-321738.html

 

[singveld]

what? they got 500 000k, dun they know to go and enjoy themselves, lie low for a while, until the coast is clear before coming back to singapore.

what kind of criminal is that?

 

[cheowyonglee]

what? they got 500 000k, dun they know to go and enjoy themselves, lie low for a while, until the coast is clear before coming back to singapore.

what kind of criminal is that?

do you believe in this news???i dun know if its real.how can so easily kana catch???

 

[singveld]

yeah i believe in the news. Why would the police lies about malaysian crooks?

 

[no_faith]

it could be scapegoats.

 

[scroobal]

Crooks tend to do the same thing and eventually you can isolate enough variables to get them. So many accounts how not to identify withdrawals, compromise locations and these have cameras.

 

[singveld]

it could be scapegoats.

But they are caught with skimmer right. So, it is like catching them with their pants down.

They must be visiting geylang for leisure too, nice location for hotel.

 

[no_faith]

But they are caught with skimmer right.

scapegoats of course must caught wif the devices or else they can juz catch any geylang patrons.

 

[fukyuman]

Thai police famous for this kind of kelong arrests.

 

[drifter]

what? they got 500 000k, dun they know to go and enjoy themselves, lie low for a while, until the coast is clear before coming back to singapore.

what kind of criminal is that?

what kind of criminal is that ? its called greedy criminal criminals have that mindset " hit the iron while its hot " .

 

[scroobal]

Exactly......

what kind of criminal is that ? its called greedy criminal criminals have that mindset " hit the iron while its hot " .

 

[Ramseth]

It'd not be that difficult to catch once complaint came in. The bank reported to police and they told customers not speak to media. ATM withdrawals has to made $1,000 at a time, maximum 3 to 5 times per card per day. The bank provided police with past withdrawal locations of cards involved and issue new cards to customers. The old cards are still tracked if attempted to be used again. There's no such thing as $500,000 is enough or not? Free money is more addictive than narcotics. They'd attempt again and get caught. By the time police allowed the bank and customers to speak to media, they already had the fish in the net. Just a matter of a few days to up the catch.

 

[sammyboi]

u sound experience like know your territory, u kingpin ah?

u kingpin ah? are those 2 runners? or 2 more JB runners on run, but u kingpin hiding ah, u know alot hor.

ok police notified, u suspect kingpin.

 

[chowka]

DBS fraud: Duo to plead guilty to possessing ATM-skimming devices

Published on Jan 19, 2012

By Magdalene Ng

Suspects Loke Siew Fei (left) and H'ng Gaik Chin were charged in court on 14 Jan 2012 over the ATM skimming case, which saw $1 million stolen from almost 700 DBS and POSB customers. They were arrested during a raid at a hotel in Geylang. -- PHOTO: SPH

Two men charged with possession of ATM-skimming devices, Loke Siew Fai, 27 and H'ng Gaik Chin, 39, intend to plead guilty to their charges.

Bail is set for the Malaysian pair, who appeared in court for the second time on Thursday, at $300,000 per person. Also, they have been linked to a transnational skimming syndicate that is based in Malaysia, which is believed to be behind the unauthorised withdrawals from DBS accounts two weeks ago.

Some $1 million was fraudulently withdrawn from nearly 700 affected bank customers.

The case is currently adjourned for four weeks, for further investigation. The prosecution also intends to bring fresh theft charges against both accused, when investigations are complete.

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AVSPOS-eBe4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

 

[General Veers]

DBS ATM skimming case: Suspects face 2nd charge

Published on Mar 7, 2012

​

Loke (left) and H'ng at an earlier court appearance in January. The duo were yesterday charged under the Computer Misuse Act with accessing customer data from an ATM. -- SHIN MIN FILE PHOTO

By Magdalen Ng

A second charge has been brought against two accused men in relation to the DBS ATM skimming case.

In the latest development, Loke Siew Fei and H'ng Gaik Chin were charged under the Computer Misuse Act with accessing customer data from an ATM in Bugis, with the intent of making unauthorised withdrawals.

They were earlier charged with the possession of skimming devices, and told the court on Jan 19 that they would be pleading guilty to that charge.

H'ng, 39, allegedly planted skimming devices - a data-capturing card reader and a pinhole camera - at a DBS ATM in Bugis Village on Jan 11, between 3.21pm and 4.28pm. Loke, 27, is charged with abetting the offence.

Read the full story in Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times.​

 

[singveld]

what kind of criminal is that ? its called greedy criminal criminals have that mindset " hit the iron while its hot " .

like playing in casino.
but they should understand, hit grass surprise snake.

 

[Maxima]

Two Malaysians jailed for possessing ATM skimming equipment
By Alvina Soh | Posted: 07 June 2012 1645 hrs

SINGAPORE: Two Malaysian men were jailed six years each for possessing skimming equipment to make false ATM cards.

Twenty-seven-year-old Loke Siew Fei and 39-year-old H'Ng Gaik Chin each pleaded guilty to two counts of contravening the Computer Misuse Act and one count of possessing equipment for making a false instrument.

An additional charge of unauthorised use of computer service was also taken into consideration.

The duo were tasked to bring skimming devices into Singapore to conduct skimming activities on ATM machines.

In January, they tampered with three ATM machines - a DBS ATM at Bugis Village, and two UOB ATMs at Sims Avenue.

After installing skimming devices on the machines, they would steal data from the ATM card's magnetic strip.

A camera was also installed near the machines' key pad to record the Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) of users.

They then emailed the information to a syndicate in Malaysia, where unauthorised withdrawals would be carried out by other members.

The court heard that within an hour of them tampering with the machines, bank customers carried out more than 200 transactions involving 100 bank accounts at the affected ATM machines.

However, none of the accounts were misused and there was no actual monetary loss to customers.

Senior District Judge See Kee Oon said there was not enough evidence to link their cases to last year's ATM fraud, involving some 700 DBS and POSB customers.

They lost S$1 million in unauthorised withdrawals made by fraudsters, also believed to be Malaysians.

Loke and H'Ng were arrested in Kim Tian Hotel at Geylang Lorong 22 on January 12.

Their arrest came at a time when investigators and the public were reeling from a spate of fraudulent withdrawals involving DBS and POSB ATMs.

The duo are part of a transnational ATM skimming syndicate based in Malaysia, whose members included Eastern Europeans.

They were recruited by Chin Yew Pong in December last year.

Chin is still at large.

Loke's lawyer said that Loke was asked to take part in the scam, due to his technical experience in fixing hardware as a former computer salesman.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong pointed out that it was "overwhelmingly clear that Loke and H'Ng had knowingly and willingly aligned themselves with criminals of a global character".

He described their roles as "crucial" as they were involved in the initial stages of the fraud, and that their offences were carefully planned.

In his sentencing, the judge also called the duo "frontliners" of the fraud and said that a substantial custodial sentence was necessary.

He added that their offences "seriously undermined public confidence in the integrity of Singapore's financial institutions and the services that they provided to the general public".

The other persons involved in the syndicate have not been arrested.

- CNA/fa/cc