The Judicial Police, through the Northern Board of Directors, after an investigation initiated in May, succeeded today 13th July 2018 in identifying and holding whilst caught in the act, six men of foreign nationality, for the alleged perpetration of crimes of criminal association, counterfeiting of similar securities currency, computer fraud and computer fraud in several cities in the Oporto metropolitan area.
The suspects, at least since last May, had been manufacturing and installing inside ATM machines devices for the purpose of reading the magnetic strip of the credit / debit cards used there, as well as recording of the codes of said cards.
The devices used were of great quality and were not perceptible to those who used the ATMs.
After that, these magnetic data were cloned into “white” cards that were later used by the suspects for their own benefit, acquiring goods and services. The total value of the fraud is not yet quantified, but can be estimated to have reached several tens of thousands of euros, damaging both cardholders and banks.
The work carried out by the Judicial Police resulted in the seizure of diverse material that could be used in the manufacture of all the necessary parts for such devices.
More than a hundred “white” cards were also seized, some without cloning and others already properly cloned, as well as diverse computer equipment needed for reading and cloning and tens of thousands of euros.
The detainees, aged between 25 and 43 years, will be present to the judicial authority for first interrogation and application of appropriate pre-trial conditions