fake-credit-card.jpg (Photo : taoxian.baike.com)
Chinese authorities arrested two foreigners in Shanghai after they were caught withdrawing money from ATM machines using white cards.
The white cards are counterfeit credit cards used by criminals in withdrawing money by embedding information of legitimate card holders. The white cards do not bear any marks except for the magnetic stripe on one side. They are cloned cards used by criminals in stealing money from ATM machines.
An operation was launched in Shanghai after authorities received information from several banks in the city that found plain white cards stuck in their ATM machines. The stuck cards were intentionally captured by the ATM machines because the information embedded in the cards do not allow withdrawal transactions. The two suspects, whose nationalities were not identified but police said were from South Asian countries, were arrested in separate police operations.
The first suspect was arrested in early December after a bank employee, who was monitoring a CCTV camera installed at the ATM machine, noticed that the man was using a white card in withdrawing money. The bank employee immediately reported what he saw to the police, who took the suspect in custody. The man yielded 18 cloned credit cards and cash worth 5,000 yuan.
On the same day, a follow-up operation resulted to the arrest of another suspect inside a hotel room in Shanghai. Police recovered more than 400 white credit cards and cash worth over 500,000 yuan, believed to have been withdrawn from ATMs. The police also seized machines used in producing counterfeit credit cards.
Investigation showed that the two suspects cloned credit card information of users outside China. To avoid detection from their countries, the suspects went to China to make multiple ATM withdrawals, police said. The suspects entered China through the Pudong International Airport.
Officials of credit card firm Visa Inc. confirmed that nearly 100 Visa cards had been cloned by the suspects and were used to withdraw up to US$26,000 in cash.
