Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2011/08/14/skimmer_arrests_in_nsw/

Credit card cabal collared

NSW cops sweep up skim scammers

By Richard Chirgwin

Posted in Security, 14th August 2011 23:01 GMT

NSW Police has arrested five men responsible for what it describes as an international credit card fraud operation.

After investigations that began in 2009, the police executed three search warrants yesterday in metropolitan Sydney, retrieving EFTPOS terminals, computers, cash, mobile phones, skimming devices, and several Canadian credit cards.

Other seizures in the two-year investigation have included 18,000 blank and counterfeit credit cards, stolen EFTPOS terminals, and skimming devices.

The men arrested are Malaysian and Sri Lankan nationals, and are accused of coordinating the fraud operation in Australia, North America and Europe.

The charges range from conspiracy to cheat and defraud, dealing with identification information, possessing equipment to create identification documents, possessing false or misleading documents, and participation in a criminal group.

The police statement says: “It is alleged that the syndicate was highly advanced technologically, and operated under a sophisticated international network.” ®