Cops in Phuket arrested two Chinese nationals caught in the act of fitting a card skimmer onto an ATM machine in Thalang Tuesday afternoon.
The men were apprehended while attaching the devices to an ATM in front of a 7-Eleven on Thepkrasattri Road in Baan Liporn, reported Lt. Col. Phongphan Siriphattharanukul, Chief Inspector of the Thalang Police.
Zhou Chaopeng, 30, and Zhou Qihong, 24, were arrested but police did not confirm whether the men were brothers.
They were found in possession of card-skimming devices, adhesive tape, several small video recorders and cameras, four mobile phones, a black laptop, two portable hard drives, four thin batteries to power the skimming devices, a soldering iron, a hot glue machine, and nine hot glue sticks.
They were also found carrying two electronic card-copying machines for encoding data onto blank ATM cards and a key to a guestroom at a hotel at Nai Yang Beach.
The arrests came after police received a tip-off that suspects were fitting apparatus to the ATM. They haven’t heard from any victims yet.
Thalang Police Deputy Superintendent Lt. Col. Amnuay Kraiwutthi-anan noted that this is the classic form of card-skimming.
“These two suspects committed the crime like normal skimmers. They installed a small video recording machine and a card-skimming reader on the ATM. These machines record data from the magnetic strips of cards as they are entered in the ATM.
“If ATM users did not cover the keypad while they entered their PIN codes, the small video recorder will record what PIN code they entered,” he explained.
“Usually, such suspects would make new electronic cards by using data that was swiped from people who used the ATM and use those cards to make withdrawals from victims’ accounts.
“They need to get both electronic data from the card and the PIN code. If they get only one of those they will not able to get the money from the ATM,” he added.
Both suspects were taken to Thalang Police Station and charged with possession of equipment for producing counterfeit data.
“Now we are investigating to see whether more people were involved in this crime. They must face legal action,” Col. Amnuay said.
“I also want to warn people to cover the ATM keypad while entering their PIN codes,” he added.
“If anyone sees unfamiliar devices on the ATM, please tell police or bank officers.”
Story: The Phuket News
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