Sosua - Six Bulgarians Arrested For Credit Card Fraud

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From Sosua news:


SIX BULGARIANS ARRESTED FOR CREDIT CARD FRAUD

The National Police has arrested six Bulgarian who are accused of cloning credit cards widely and plundering bank accounts.


They were also active in Sosúa where they copied cards at the ATMs of Banco Popular. The Bulgarians are suspected to have stolen at least $ 200,000 from bank accounts. Two of the Bulgarians were caught in the act at Banco Popular in hotel Barceló, in Bavaro in Punta Cana. In their apartment then the other four gang members were arrested. They were in the possession of 297 credit cards of major banks and various electronic devices serving the skim practices. In recent months, many tourists in Sosúa when using their credit card at Banco Popular were skimmed and then their bank account robbed. Hopefully that with the arrest of these gang members it is safe to use the ATM at Banco Popular again.

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Happy to see the D. R. has the resources in law enforcement to crack down on this scam.

About six years ago they tried to pull this on me by the bank in front of Super Super. I went to use it and a Dominican came up to me and said it was not working and directed me to the AM across the street. Right away I knew it was a scam. I went to the ATM across the street to see what was up and right away noticed the black skimmer with red light attached to the ATM machine. I pulled it off. It was attached with Velcro. The next thing I knew I had some other Dominican trying to rip it out of my hand. I pulled away at first but the just dropped it on the floor. He picked it up and ran.

If you do use the ATM machines in DR as I do, here are some pointers. Always be aware of you surroundings when approaching the ATM and try to use it during daylight. As soon as you take your card out and are about to put it in the ATM machine, use you other hand to cover the credit card #. When you enter your PIN # also use you other hand to cover the numbers. After they use the skimmer to clone it, there is usually a tiny hidden camera connected to the ATM right above the numbers so they can record your PIN number.

[Kevy]

These east European gangs were rolling through Canada a few years ago, all the banks switched to chip cards it got so out of hand. I guess these guys didn't adapt and moved elsewhere LOL

[Ram]

These east European gangs were rolling through Canada a few years ago, all the banks switched to chip cards it got so out of hand. I guess these guys didn't adapt and moved elsewhere LOL

The ATM at the Sosua Banco Popular says it is a chip machine right on the screen. Same guard is there that was there in June and July. I have been using these ATM's all year. I have been using a debit card, I check my balance and transactions daily. No problems yet.

[No Worries]

If you do use the ATM machines in DR as I do, here are some pointers. Always be aware of you surroundings when approaching the ATM and try to use it during daylight. As soon as you take your card out and are about to put it in the ATM machine, use you other hand to cover the credit card #. When you enter your PIN # also use you other hand to cover the numbers. After they use the skimmer to clone it, there is usually a tiny hidden camera connected to the ATM right above the numbers so they can record your PIN number.


What kind of camera do these guys use? It must be super tiny that you wouldnt notice it there!


I met a young dude from Canada in After 1 on my last trip. He told me that he hated his trip to the Dr and one of his biggest reasons why was because the police would "extort" him every time he went to an ATM machine. He said as soon as he walked up to a machine, he would be surrounded by police who would tell him that "They are there for his protection. To make sure he was safe. By the way, would he like to contribute some money so they could have a few beers that night?"

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What kind of camera do these guys use? It must be super tiny that you wouldnt notice it there!


I met a young dude from Canada in After 1 on my last trip. He told me that he hated his trip to the Dr and one of his biggest reasons why was because the police would "extort" him every time he went to an ATM machine. He said as soon as he walked up to a machine, he would be surrounded by police who would tell him that "They are there for his protection. To make sure he was safe. By the way, would he like to contribute some money so they could have a few beers that night?"


This guy is most likely referring to the security guard with a shot gun and not the police. Sometimes when I use the Banco Popular bank the guard will come over like he is giving me special attention. The guard has never asked me for money but you can tell they are hoping for a tip.

[ezsmile]

What kind of camera do these guys use? It must be super tiny that you wouldnt notice it there!


I met a young dude from Canada in After 1 on my last trip. He told me that he hated his trip to the Dr and one of his biggest reasons why was because the police would "extort" him every time he went to an ATM machine. He said as soon as he walked up to a machine, he would be surrounded by police who would tell him that "They are there for his protection. To make sure he was safe. By the way, would he like to contribute some money so they could have a few beers that night?"

Some Canadians should just stick to visiting Yonge Street in Toronto

[BorisDaBulletDodger]

What kind of camera do these guys use? It must be super tiny that you wouldnt notice it there!


I met a young dude from Canada in After 1 on my last trip. He told me that he hated his trip to the Dr and one of his biggest reasons why was because the police would "extort" him every time he went to an ATM machine. He said as soon as he walked up to a machine, he would be surrounded by police who would tell him that "They are there for his protection. To make sure he was safe. By the way, would he like to contribute some money so they could have a few beers that night?"

Its scary how easy it is actually. I was looking for the several incidents that happened down here in South Florida, but found some others.

This is similar, and the LE was basically saying the same thing down here, that they can't do anything about it except inform the public. The guys down here were putting small mirrors, like you often see on ATM machines to see people behind them at the ATMs to cover up the cameras.

Another helpful tip that wasn't covered was to inspect the part where the card goes in to see if it is a little loose or budges at all.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5IXANgr6Co

I got daily texts and emails of my balance in all accounts also personally