Romanians in the news again! Fake ATM cards used to cheat

Singapore
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Dec 30, 2009

Fake ATM cards used to cheat

<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
<!-- end by line -->
AN INTERNATIONAL crime syndicate hired at least eight Romanians to make unauthorised cash withdrawals at automated teller machines (ATMs) here.
They were hired in Romania or London, while a couple is believed to have joined in while on honeymoon here. Their mission: to withdraw as much cash as possible from ATMs of the United Overseas Bank and OCBC Bank using green plastic gift cards encoded with stolen ATM card data belonging to account holders living in the United Kingdom. The cards were hidden in board games like Monopoly on the flight here and the culprits were equipped with laptops, card encoders and mobile phones. They went to work on July 2 but all were nabbed the next day, as the Commercial Affairs Department had received a tip-off. By then, they had withdrawn more than $20,000. The police found 270 cloned cards, many with the PIN numbers written on the back. The eight Romanians - seven men and one woman - looked on grimly when their offences were read out in a district court on Wednesday.

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

Fake ATM cards used to cheat

Singapore
Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
Dec 30, 2009

Fake ATM cards used to cheat

<!-- by line --> By Khushwant Singh
<!-- end by line -->
AN INTERNATIONAL crime syndicate hired at least eight Romanians to make unauthorised cash withdrawals at automated teller machines (ATMs) here.
They were hired in Romania or London, while a couple is believed to have joined in while on honeymoon here. Their mission: to withdraw as much cash as possible from ATMs of the United Overseas Bank and OCBC Bank using green plastic gift cards encoded with stolen ATM card data belonging to account holders living in the United Kingdom. The cards were hidden in board games like Monopoly on the flight here and the culprits were equipped with laptops, card encoders and mobile phones. They went to work on July 2 but all were nabbed the next day, as the Commercial Affairs Department had received a tip-off. By then, they had withdrawn more than $20,000. The police found 270 cloned cards, many with the PIN numbers written on the back. The eight Romanians - seven men and one woman - looked on grimly when their offences were read out in a district court on Wednesday.

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

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="789"><tbody><tr> <td colspan="3" height="26"></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="5"></td> <td colspan="2" valign="top" width="784"> 8 Romanians jailed for unauthorised ATM withdrawals
By Leong Wee Keat, TODAY | Posted: 15 January 2010 2345 hrs
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SINGAPORE: Eight Romanians, who were members of an international crime syndicate, were jailed between six and nine years on Friday for unauthorised withdrawals at automated teller machines (ATMs).

Three members - Asandi Dirpes Alin, Valeriu Georgian Dumitru and Neagoe Marius - received heavier jail sentences of nine years each, as they were found with a magnetic card encoder which could have been used to make cloned ATM cards here.

Pleading for leniency, the trio's lawyers, Mr Subhas Anandan and Mr Sunil Sudheesan, said their clients were "pawns" recruited by the syndicate as they needed money.

They were also "mules" to bring in the card encoder and blank cards here, added the lawyers.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor David Chew argued deterrence was needed in such cases, where foreign syndicates target Singapore's financial systems.

Equipped with laptops, card encoders and mobile phones, they hid cloned cards in board games like Monopoly on the flight to Singapore.

The cards were encoded with stolen ATM card data belonging to account holders in Britain.

They went to work on July 2 last year but were arrested within days. By then, they had already withdrawn more than S$20,000.

One offender, however, remains at large.

- TODAY/sc


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