5 Bulgarians nabbed for fake ATM card withdrawals

Published : April 07, 2012 :: 13:04:48 [ 2,382 views ]

5 Bulgarians nabbed for fake ATM card withdrawals

Five Bulgarians were arrested for using counterfeit credit cards to withdraw money from Thai banks’ automatic teller machines (ATMs), according to the provincial office of the Thailand Transnational Crime Coordination Centre.

PATTAYA – April 6, 2012 [PDN]; The five-person gang consisted of three men and two women–Stefan Nikolaev Savovski, 38; Iliyan Alek Sandrov Ininski, 37; Plamen Ivanov Hlebarov, 21; Diana Dianova Dimitrova, 21, and Gergana Hristova Krekmanova, 28.

Mr Savovski was arrested as he was withdrawing cash from a Siam Commercial Bank machine in Pattaya. The rest of the gang was apprehended after being identified by him.

Thirty-three counterfeit credit cards were seized.

Police said the suspects confessed the money was transferred to Bulgaria via Western Union. They received 10 per cent of the total withdrawn from the ATM machines.

Mr Savovski said the gang was hired by a group of Bulgarians in their home country who stole real data on the credit cards and made up fake cards for the scam.

Chonburi police chief Pol Maj-Gen Jamnong Rattanakul said the gang’s behaviour has given a bad image to Pattaya City, as one of Thailand’s main tourist destinations.

He said immigration police will coordinate for a stricter screening of such criminal elements from entering the country in future.