News

Romanian police arrest alleged ATM skimmer gang members

June 15, 2010

Romanian police have arrested 20 members of a gang law enforcement officials accuse of manufacturing and selling ATM skimmers.

Police arrested the alleged thieves after raiding 38 locations in Cariova, six in Bucharest and three in a neighboring country, the European ATM Security Team, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland, posted on its website.

Officials charged the arrested with being members of an organized group, unauthorized access to a computer system, possessing card-cloning equipment, access device fraud and distributing fake electronic-payment devices. Police raided the locations May 27.

Gang members sell skimmers to other gangs. They use the devices to steal funds from cardholders in Italy, Germany, Sweden and Romania. Criminals attach skimmers to ATMs to steal card information in order to manufacture counterfeit cards.