2 Romanian nationals arrested for ATM fraud

Two Romanian nationals were arrested in connection with an alleged ATM fraud, police said today.

The accused, identified as Miclea Lecian Lonut and Paraschiv George Aletandru, both 37 years of age, were arrested from Vasant Kunj in New Delhi and were staying in a hotel, they said.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that they arrived in Chandigarh on August 2 with the intention of putting skimmers (a device used by fraudsters to steal credit/debit card information) and spy cameras at ATMs.

After collecting data of ATM card-holders, they used to make a clone of it and then use the ATM cards for online shopping or withdrawing money.

To hoodwink police, they used to disguise themselves by wearing caps, spectacles and wigs.

With the increasing complaints regarding illegal withdrawal of money, the Crime Branch of the Chandigarh Police suspected the involvement of some foreigners in the incident, police said.

They collected data pertaining to foreigners visiting the city in the recent days and came to know about the involvement of Romanian nationals who stayed in local hotels here, they said.

On August 4, bank officials had detected a skimmer and spy camera at an ATM in Sector 17 here, police said.

In the CCTV footage, it was found that two different persons were fitting the external devices at ATM kiosks, they said.

The external devices were also found at Manimajra here.