Chinese ATM theft ring circumvents withdrawal limits

TAIPEI, China -- Taipei City police on July 1 arrested two men in an alleged crime ring that fraudulently obtained money through stolen bank cards by circumventing ATM cash withdrawal limits.

According to the China Times Express newspaper, after the two men accessed a victim's account, they circumvented the daily withdrawal limits by withdrawing the most cash possible under the limit, transferring the remaining amount to another victim's account, then withdrawing cash from that account.

Police were tipped off by a victim who claimed that after her wallet was stolen from her car, more than twice the maximum daily amount allowed had disappeared from her account.

After locating the ATM where cash was withdrawn, police searched discarded transaction records until they found one involving the victim's account.

Police identified fingerprints from the receipt as belonging to Hung Chi-shu, 22, who has two previous convictions for burglary, according to the China Times Express. Hung was arrested along with his friend, Tiao Chien-min, 23, who has been convicted of burglary four times.

According to police, they found 20 items of stolen property when they searched the house where Hung and Tiao lived.

The two suspects, who told police that they stole ATM cards from cars and motorcycles, said that accessing the accounts was easy because many people had written PINs on the cards or used their birth dates as PINs.

The police are still seeking four other suspects in the ring, including one nicknamed "Ah Hsiang," according to the China Times Express.