14 DAY TRIAL // Two Jamaicans arrested last week under suspicion of ATM fraud are the first persons charged for offenses under the country's cybercriminal legislation.
In order to combat a significant rise in electronic crimes in the country, last December the Jamaican legislators passed the Cyber Crimes Act.
The law provides criminal sanctions for the misuse of computer systems or data, as well as the abuse of electronic means of completing transactions.
The Jamaica Observer reports that two men arrested on Friday became the first people in the country to be charged under the new legislation.
The men were seen acting suspiciously around an ATM in the parish of Manchester on Saturday, August 28 and police was notified.
The law enforcement officers sent to investigate found the two suspects sitting in a vehicle in front of an automated teller machine.
A search of the car uncovered a device used to remotely record credit card data and associated PINs from the rigged ATM.
Equipment allowing for the captured data to be written onto blank credit cards was also discovered in the vehicle, suggesting that the fraudsters were cloning cards on the spot.
The two suspects were charged with violations under sections 3, 6 and 8 of the Cyber Crimes Act and are scheduled to appear before a judge tomorrow in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate's Court.
ATM skimming devices like the one used in this case can be acquired online from cybercriminals specializing in their manufacturing.
Most of them come with incorporated GSM modules that are able to send captured data via SMS messages to a nearby receivers.
Fraudsters can then use the information copied from the magnetic stripes of credit cards, commonly referred to as "dumps," to create fake cards and withdraw money from the victim's account.