14 DAY TRIAL // Four men were charged and arrested for card fraud offenses conducted through card skimming devices placed in taxis in Sydney, Australia.
The detectives from Strike Force Hereford 2 were investigating the activities of several men who were believed to be part of a well-organized credit card skimming group, and on July 1 they arrested four of them at a motel in Chullora.
Upon executing the search warrants, they found about 800 blank cards, a card encoder, a laptop and the necessary connectivity cables for downloading the stolen information on the computer.
The police says that the skimming device looked like a legitimate payment system, which would not raise any suspicion to a taxi customer.
The men were charged with dealing in identification information, possession of equipment for the manufacture of identification documents, directing a criminal group and participating in a criminal group. They are aged between 24 and 56.
“In court detectives will allege that all four men were members of a well-organized and sophisticated credit card skimming syndicate. Detectives will contend that the syndicate obtained credit card details from a variety of sources, including the use of skimming devices in taxis,” says a statement from the NSW Police Force.
It seems that their criminal activity could have brought them hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, products and services.
“People need to be alert every time they use their credit or debit card,” Detective Superintendent Watson said. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re withdrawing money at an ATM, paying for a meal at a restaurant or settling a fare in a taxi, never let your card out of your sight,” he added.
However, if the skimming device looks like a legitimate point-of-sale terminal, there may be nothing to warn the customer of the fraud attempt.
In this case, checking the bank statements could reveal unauthorized transactions and immediately alerting the police may lead to tracing the perpetrators faster.
The detective urges any taxi driver who has information about the use of skimming devices against taxi customers to come forward and report the crime. All information can be revealed anonymously, as the police has no interest in learning the identity of the individual who reports the nefarious activity.
The four men arrested at the beginning of the month are from Sydney, Potts Point, Rockdale and Greenacre. One of them was released, but is expected to come to be interviewed as part of the ongoing inquiries.
The other three individuals were granted conditional bail and are set to appear in Burwood Local Court on July 14, 2014.