Police roll up bank card counterfeiting gang

Around 1,000 debit cards cancelled as a precaution

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The National Bureau of Investigation, Finland's central criminal police arm, has arrested five persons of foreign background on suspicion of duplicating magnetic strip bank debit cards while the owners were using the cards to fill up with fuel at automated gas stations, or so-called "cold stations".
      When apprehended, the individuals also had in their possession a device that was attached to the automats in order to perform the copying.
      According to Det. Chief Inspector Timo Palkamo the gadget hooked up to the automat is very inconspicuous, and customers would be unlikely to spot it for what it is. The arrested persons were also carrying a large number of ready-cloned debit cards.
     
The PIN-numbers from the magnetic strips on the cards have been determined apparently by photographing the owners' actions on the small keyboard at the automats.
      At least a hundred victims have come forward to say that they have had money withdrawn illicitly from their accounts, but it is possible that the problem has been even more widespread.
      As a precaution, around 1,000 cards have been cancelled. The cardholders will not suffer any financial loss as a result of the fraudulent use of their card details.
      The illegal duplicating of card data has taken place at filling stations in Southern, Central and Eastern Finland. The arrests at the weekend took place in Helsinki and in the west of the country.
      The police have been extremely reluctant to divulge any details of their investigation, which may suggest that there may still be some perpetrators at large. Equally, the investigating team has not given any information as to how they got onto the track of the counterfeiters.
     
Finns first became aware of the cloning and illegal duplicating of debit card details towards the end of the 1990s, when an authentic-looking addition had been fitted to a kerbside bank ATM in Aleksanterinkatu in Helsinki.
      With the information they obtained by reading the card, the criminals manufactured new cards, which they then used to withdraw money from dozens of people's bank accounts.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Debit card copying has spread to automated petrol stations (1.8.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat