Print

Mail

wiki links

Credit card thieves steal the minister of justice's number

Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan's (陳定南) name is among those of a number of public figures whose credit card details have been stolen by a gang of credit card counterfeiters, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (刑事警察局) said yesterday.

Police officers from the Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday arrested a man in Taichung as he attempted to use a fake credit card to buy goods at the city's Shin-Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store. They then arrested six other suspects at two locations in Taichung County and Taipei County. They also found 2,200 fake credit cards in the names of 55 different domestic and foreign banks as well as machines for making fake credit cards.

Police said that Liu Fang-yi (劉芳義), the first man arrested and alleged leader of the gang, purchased the stolen credit card information of innocent credit card holders and placed it on fake cards at the gang's factory in a residential apartment block in Taichung County. The other six suspects then allegedly used the fake cards to buy goods and withdraw cash from ATM machines.

The credit card information is believed to have been stolen electronically in Malaysia.

The police said that the thieves usually "hire" personnel in department stores, gas stations and other outlets to transfer the invisible, electronic credit codes contained in credit cards when they legitimately "skim" the codes during credit card transactions. The theft involves the computerized transfer of the codes from the electronic "skimmer" to the counterfeiters.

"We have been watching these guys for two years," said a police officer who wished to remain anonymous.

"These people hooked up with international credit card thieves in Malaysia from whom they purchased information `skimmed' from innocent credit card holders."

Among the fake cards discovered by the police was a card in Chen's name. Other victims included DPP lawmaker Chu Hsin-yu (朱星羽), former Taipei County Commissioner You Ching (尤清) and UFO Radio Station President Jaw Shaw-kung (趙少康).

This is the second time the minister has been the victim of a credit card theft. He was told by his bank last year that his code had been stolen while he was on a trip to the UK.
This story has been viewed 2829 times.