The first known "fake ATM" crime in Taiwan has been solved with the arrest of two suspects, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday.
The suspects had allegedly placed fake ATMs in Chiufen (九份) and Sanchung City (三重), both in Taipei County, which could not dispense cash, but recorded card numbers and PIN codes on home-made computers intalled inside the machines.
The suspects, surnamed Chen (
Crimes of the type had been reported in the US and Japan, but this was the first such case in Taiwan, according to the CIB.
The CIB said that with one fake ATM, the two had stolen over NT$6 million since May by raiding 101 accounts at 27 banks in 286 transactions.
Police arrested Wu Wednesday night at CKS International Airport when he tried to flee the country, after Chen's arrest in November.
Chen told police that he built the fake ATMs with computer skills he learned during a previous term in jail for kidnapping.
The two placed the fake ATM first at the town of Chiufen, in May for four days and then in September moved it to a shopping mall in Sanchung, where it was located for a week. The police have seized parts of the fake ATM.
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