NBI nabs 4 for credit card fraud in QC

The National Bureau of Investigation arrested four suspects allegedly belonging to a criminal syndicate behind credit card fraud in Quezon City.

According to a 24 Oras report by John Consulta on Tuesday, the syndicate would steal deliveries of new credit cards and replace these with fake cards.

“Modus nila ay credit card tampering o credit card cloning. Itong ating mga sindikato ay umiikot sa mga junk shops, namimili sila ng used cards, o yung mga cards na tinapon, kinukuha nila, finaflaten hanggang sa maging blank card siya,” said NBI Cybercrime Division Chief Attorney Jeremy Lotoc.

(These syndicates go to junk shops where they buy used or discarded credit cards. They would flatten these and turn them into blank cards.)

“Imagine from the bank, yung mga for delivery na bank cards, during enroute, i-intercept ito ng sindikato. Pag nakuha nila yung legit na cards, ishi-shift ito, papalitan ng pekeng card. Yung dadalhin ng courier sa mga recipients ay yung cloned cards na,” he added.

(From the bank, these syndicates would intercept deliveries of bank cards. Once they have the legitimate cards they would then replace these with fake ones. Recipients would receive cloned from couriers.)

NBI agents seized multiple fake IDs and a product bought using the cloned cards.

“Pag nagka-abutan na ng card, sila na ang nagsasabi kung anong bibilhin ko sa mall, cellphone at laptop.  May 200,000, [at may] 300,000. Pagkabili ko po, binibigay ko na sa kanila, basta ang sinasabi, 10-porsiyento ang mapupunta sa akin,” said one of the suspects.

(Once we receive the real cards, we are instructed to buy certain items in the mall, cellphones or laptops. After I buy the items I turn it over to them. They told me I have a 10% commission.)

The four suspects were charged with Republic Act 8484 or Access Device Act, among others.  One suspect remains at large.

Meanwhile, the NBI Cybercrime Division reminded the public to make sure they destroy the magnetic strips and chips of used and expired cards to protect private and sensitive information.—RF, GMA Integrated News