Police in Bali have arrested yet another Bulgarian national for alleged ATM skimming. The suspect, identified by police as Krasimir Stoykov, was arrested yesterday in Seminyak.
“The suspect connected a skimming device in the form of a router, which also came with a flash disk and hidden camera, used to extract data,” Bali Police’s general crime director, Andi Fairan, said today, as reported by Merdeka.
Stoykov was arrested yesterday morning on Kunti Street in Seminyak after police received a tip from Bank Mandiri informing the authorities that one of their ATM machines had been connected to a skimming device.
Authorities reportedly watched Stoykov’s activity through a surveillance camera at the ATM location prior to the arrest, where he could be seen opening the hidden camera that was installed in the machine. He was apprehended as soon as he exited the ATM booth.
Police also secured a number of items on his person as evidence, including IDR 2.9 million in cash, a piece of a router and two mobile phones.
According to Bali Police Chief Petrus Reinhard Golose, cases of ATM skimming also occur in other parts of the world, but a large number of perpetrators have been caught in Bali.
“This is because many organized crime groups who come from Eastern Europe visit Bali,” Golose said, as quoted by Merdeka.
This is far from the first time Bulgarian nationals have been arrested for ATM skimming in Bali. In May, two Bulgarians were named suspects after local residents in Nusa Penida allegedly caught them in the act. Whereas earlier in February, Bali police arrested five Bulgarian men and secured IDR 78 million from them in allegedly ill-gotten cash.
