A Pakistani court today jailed two Chinese nationals for an year and slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on them for their involvement in automated teller machine fraud in the country's largest city, days after four Chinese citizens were caught for alleged ATM skimming.
According to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the suspects were involved in manipulating ATM machines to take out money.
The FIA informed the court that the two foreign suspects were caught red-handed while installing a skimming device at an ATM on Karachi's Abdullah Haroon Road, Geo TV reported.
A district court sentenced the two Chinese nationals to one-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each over their involvement in the ATM skimming incident, the report said without naming them.
The arrested Chinese nationals were seen suspiciously doing the rounds of an ATM booth on Karachi's Abdullah Haroon Road for the past three days.
Citizens took hold of the suspects and handed them over to police. They were moved to Artillery Maidan police station for investigation.
CCTV footage of an ATM booth also showed the suspects installing a skimming device.
On January 15, four Chinese nationals suspected of ATM skimming fraud were arrested here and police have recovered Rs 2.3 million and 350 ATM cards from their possession, in the latest incident involving Chinese citizens.
Pakistan has witnessed a spike in the number of Chinese nationals in the country in recent years due to many Beijing- funded infrastructure development projects and joint ventures under the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative.
Fraudsters employ different techniques to record the PIN numbers of the debit card for accessing money in an account.
In some instances, the schemers stick a fake card-reader on the ATM, while in others they place a fake keypad on the machine to get the customer's PIN code.
Another technique employed in this crime is the use of a hidden camera, which records the PIN code and conveys it to fraudsters.
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