Two remanded in custody over credit card frauds
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Two men have been remanded in custody following a series of credit card frauds in the city of Vantaa last autumn. The suspects have admitted part of the crimes.
The men being held are Russian citizens of roughly 30 years of age, and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) suspects them of aggravated means-of-payment frauds.
The offences were committed between June and September of last year, when the suspects copied the details of at least 250 customers' credit cards and bank ATM cards, while the customers were paying for their purchases at a kiosk located on Vantaa's Hakunilantie.
The perpetrators made copies of the stolen cards, providing them with a magnetic strip and taking them to Russia, where the copies were used to withdraw money from cash machines. The total sum withdrawn was around EUR 70,000. The reason for exporting the counterfeit cards to Russia was apparently the absence of the CCTV cameras that provide some form of protection against abuse here.
"No money has been recovered, and it is also not known whether or not the money was ever brought back into Finland", says Detective Inspector Vesa Isokuortti. However, the banks and credit card companies have already compensated their customers for the lost cash.
The kiosk was closed down at the end of September as a result of a fire. According to the police, the frauds and the blaze are unrelated.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 13.2.2007 - TODAY |
 Two remanded in custody over credit card frauds
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