News

Canadian police arrest dozens in card-cloning ring bust

May 10, 2012

Toronto police yesterday began a roundup of members of an international debit card cloning ring, by the end of the day arresting 48 of 61 suspects sought on 368 criminal charges.

According to a report by the Montreal Gazette, ring members are accused of using ATM skimming devices and handheld card-reader siphoning technology in order to collect card and PIN numbers. Police said the gang used this information to create counterfeit cards that were used to withdraw money from ATMs.

In a news release, the RCMP estimated that as much as $100 million (US$998 million) might have been stolen. However, the charges allege only a fraction of that — $7.7 million (US$7.68 million) taken from accounts of 22,000 bank customers during "cash grabs."

In one such coordinated attack, police told the Gazette, 25–30 ring members used 23 ATMs within a five-minute period to steal more than $30,000 (US$29,937).

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