Spanish police have successfully dismantled a banking card fraud ring that employed sophisticated hacking techniques to steal thousands of euros. The group’s primary focus was on targeting ATMs of Spanish national banks, utilizing cloned payment cards to conduct their fraudulent activities.
The illicit gains from their operations were estimated to amount to nearly 196,000 euros. The arrests of the three individuals behind this cybercrime were carried out in Valencia, following a well-coordinated operation led by the Spanish police’s internet crime and financial fraud divisions.
The arrested trio, whose identities have been kept undisclosed, were experts in various aspects of the criminal operation. The group’s modus operandi involved installing skimmers and micro-cameras on automatic tellers, allowing them to capture crucial data from banking cards’ magnetic stripes and PINs as users entered their credentials.
With this stolen information, the fraudsters engaged in unauthorized banking transfers using cloned cards and compromised credentials. Additionally, the group employed phishing emails and created false online profiles to harvest passwords and sensitive user details, including identity documents.
Spanish authorities seized significant evidence during the operation, including a magnetic stripe reader, a card-reader, 300 banking cards (including counterfeits), six skimmer devices, and 13 configuration plates for these devices. The arrested individuals face a range of charges, including forgery of credit and debit cards, fraud, falsification of documents, and money laundering.
While two suspects remain in custody, the investigation remains ongoing, with authorities actively pursuing potential other members of the group who may still be at large. This successful operation highlights the Spanish police’s dedication to combatting cybercrime and protecting financial institutions and individuals from such fraudulent activities.
