Pattaya Police bust Lithuanian 'ATM-scamming' gang

[Monkeyrobot]

3 off them under 20 , just young kid's learning a hard lesson in life, I kind off feel sorry for what is ahead of them.

[mok199]

i was scammed 2 years ago,now i never use an ATM outside of a mall.....

[MMarlow]

the article didn't say how they got caught!

i am intrigued to know how the Thai police managed to ever catch them....

if they are using fake cards on many ATM's around Pattaya, surely they have already committed the crime before the police are notified.

I'm puzzled how they got caught!

it would have made the read more interesting...

- Despite making fun of their lack of enthusiasm to uphold the law, I often admire how the Thai Police actually manage to catch so many criminals.

(or perhaps its just from tip-offs,,, therefore meaning that they actually didnt do much work to catch criminals after all!!)

anyway... how the thai police caught them would have made the story much more interesting, I think.

Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the report would probably answer your question.

[lostinisaan]

Seems that they've "lost face." Why do all these scumbags come to Thailand?

[lostinisaan]

3 off them under 20 , just young kid's learning a hard lesson in life, I kind off feel sorry for what is ahead of them.

You feel a kind of sorry for them? Wish some of them empty your bank account soon, then you might get it.

[super22k]

DD13 is correct. In Britain the eastern bloc lot steal from ATM machines then pay their fines with the social security money we give them It is the fault of the soft anti-british traitors who rule the roost at Westminster.

[schnazzy]

With the technology available today, they can't put some technology in ATM's to stop this? How is it possible?

With the technology available today, they can't put some technology in ATM's to stop this? How is it possible?

What do you expect from a device/system that was invented in the 60's it has not changed "radically" since then, it has been upgraded within the design confines but so has the Microsoft OS and look at that behemoth heap of shit for an example of electronic evolution gone wrong.!!!

Most of the skimming happens to be from people from the eastern block, Lithuania, Ukraine, etc. The technology is simple. How would you change the technology to fix someone using a video camera to capture your pin and a simple read attached to the outside of the ATM to look OEM?

Most people who use western ATM cards (foreign), can be reimbursed for fraudulent activities like this if reported reasonably soon. There are ways around being a victim like covering your hand when putting in the pin and using a card that you transfer money into shortly before taking it out. Many people do this.

What goes on in Pattaya so far is very very crude. And 5m baht, peanuts. When they can coordinate 700m baht in 14 hours, then ok. (happened 1.5 years ago and similarly a few years before that).

One fix would be to use a smart card (with chip) and encrypt the chip (not normally done). The chip is required to use in an ATM and unique so therefore, very difficult to skim or copy. However, a plastic card with a logo costs a few cents and a smart card is a couple dollars. Couple that with the ATM readers would all have to be swapped out thru the 100's of millions of ATMs around the world.... Probably a cost of $200-500 per ATM. It's cheaper for the western banks to just take the loss. And in Thailand, you usually won't get reimbursed so, no loss at all.

Edited October 14, 2013 by schnazzy

[alocacoc]

Every few weeks we read about such storys. So i wonder, how many gangs are still out there on the streets. The major security hole comes from the credit card companies and banks. Why the hell they still use magnetic strips on their cards?

Nowadays its possible to buy dumps from cards by internet. Then the skimmers need only some empty cards and a cardreader. Actually, its very simple. In all this storys its mention that the skimmers earn millions within weeks or months. So it looks that the risk to get catch is low.

Edited October 14, 2013 by alocacoc

[phitsanulokjohn]

When you finish your stay at the 5* luxury Bangkok hilton,try working for a living.There will be some nice Thai boys waiting for your 4 ringpieces.

[Torrens54]

Pull their heads upright so we can get a look at the Scum Bags and as some have already suggested, chuck them in Jail HERE for a long time.

If they are deported, they'll go home laughing.

[Wat dee]

Hope they are not deported but get to enjoy some good old, long term Thai prison hospitality. Might dissuade some of their compatriots from following in their foot steps.

Don't worry,Lithuanian prisons are about same as Thai but cooler!

[khunPer]

They all look like very deep "thinkers".

+1 Think they may a plenty of time for further deep thinking at Bangkok Hilton

[MyFriend You]

With the technology available today, they can't put some technology in ATM's to stop this? How is it possible?

They could at least put CCTV cameras around every ATM machine, so the bib immediately know who to look for.

We don´t need an ATM machine outside of every shop or in every dark alley! Allow the shops to pay out extra cash on credit/debit cards on any purchase (like up to THB 1,000). Gather the ATM machines from different banks in safe rooms built of concrete and armored glass (like in the movie ATM) and keep the suspects locked inside the room, until the local bib shows up and check, if they are in possession of any illegal equipment or stolen credit cards. A valid credit or debit card should be used to access the rooms. The rooms could be placed in connection to 7 eleven shops, which are open 24 hours and widely spread all over Thailand.

Firstly, congratulations to the B.I.B --at least some of them are detecting crime instead of the usual we have to endure. Secondly I agree with Xonax, why does there have to be so many ATM machines ? They are everywhere you look. Maybe that is why Thailand is seen as such a soft target for this type of criminal activity. Thirdly, yes, put ATM machines in a kind of safe room. In the UK., a lot of banks have enclosed their entrances and you must use your card to gain access. However, as shown on TV several years ago, this is not without it's problems -- I think it was at a branch of the Midland Bank ( tell me if I'm wrong ) someone actually stuck a card reader on the outside wall of the entrance just below the ' official ' one. Most people having swiped their card and the doors not opening, simply swiped the other reader. One reader opened the doors, the other recorded their card details. It was several days before anyone questioned as to why there were two card readers at the bank...and it was also on CCTV. So simple and obviously so very effective.

I know it's a pain but the best way is to go into the bank. Despite the usual queues, it is safer.

Oh please...most of us don't need or want the nanny state. Just use best practices when using an ATM and avoid the standalone ones located down dark sois. Most don't need the big hand of government guiding us every time we use one of these new modern marvels called ATMs. If one feels overwhelmed using them, just use the tellers like we all used to do 25 years ago.

I won't use an ATM that is not in an open area, near the Bank - I have had an SCB ATM card since the early nineties, have never been scammed - maybe because I would walk an extra few blocks to use the machine that is right outside the bank - but, that is not the point.............they created dodgy ATM Cards, these cards must have been linked to a valid acount somewhere(!?!?!?) so the persons account is where the money would be withdrawn..............unless the security of the SCB bank is so weak that it doesn't link a card to an account????? I think not..................

[easybullet3]

@easybullet3 You look to be very much interested in knowing how the BIB caught these criminals

any aspirations to get the ATM's emptied yourself ????

No, not really. its not my bag, baby. Lol.

PS: I just realised the article DOES say how they got caught!

I was tired when I read it... must have missed it.

[easybullet3]

the article didn't say how they got caught!

i am intrigued to know how the Thai police managed to ever catch them....

if they are using fake cards on many ATM's around Pattaya, surely they have already committed the crime before the police are notified.

I'm puzzled how they got caught!

it would have made the read more interesting...

- Despite making fun of their lack of enthusiasm to uphold the law, I often admire how the Thai Police actually manage to catch so many criminals.

(or perhaps its just from tip-offs,,, therefore meaning that they actually didnt do much work to catch criminals after all!!)

anyway... how the thai police caught them would have made the story much more interesting, I think.

Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the report would probably answer your question.

Yup! I see it now.!

thanks for pointing it out

amazing how I missed that!!

i guess I was tired when I woke up today! Lol !!

Thanks for re-pointing it out to me.

I was kind of hoping for a dramatic clever investigation between banks and police.

disappointed to learn that it was a tip-off from local people saying they were acting suspiciously.

but really... sometimes I do get amazed how the thai police actually manage to "find" people that do crimes.

(though in this case it was not big feat)

[realenglish1]

I have a good idea for punishment Give then all to some pissed of Tuk Tuk drivers in Puket

Then pick them up after about 2 hours

See how they are

[Ulic]

I wonder if the victims of the thefts will have their money returned by the bank?

This would be the practise in England but I'm not sure how it works in Thailand... anybody know??

From what I read on TV it is almost impossible to get money back from a Thai bank account, unless you are very well

connected. (Police Captain) So the customer not the bank looses the money. However most foreign banks

return the money. This is I think why the Thai Banks get upset. Not sure what happens when the charges

are reconciled. Maybe the Thai banks loose money then from foreign card transactions. Still chump change

when compared to all the 150 baht ATM fees but it cuts into there profits.

[jacko45k]

Same thing has been happening in England with these "Eastern Bloc" Scum

I had a card "cloned" at a fuel station, they got themselves jobs as cashiers, then repositioned the security camera to view the "pin number" machine....

I hope that the Thai authorities "don't" send them back, but give them 10 years in jail, feed them plain rice, and let them drink rain water....

It won't happen in England.....of course.... There they will be fined a small amount of money (which they will pay from the hand-outs we stupid English give them)

But I doubt that they will be sent back to where they come from

We Westeners are "SAPS"

Same here in OZ. They probably get a slap on the wrists and some money to get home.

In the UK we give them a council house and a commission lawyer to sue the police.

[SjaakNL2013]

I don t understand why thiefs still try to clear a ATM that way. There are so many other ways to clean those machines.

I think an gas them or repatch the transmitter signal to a laptop nearby.

This facke card thing is a typical east european way.

[Rimmer]

One post reproduced in full from a news source without permission of the original source removed

[phantomfiddler]

The big problem here is that if one of these <deleted> got money out of your bank account the bank will NOT replace it, unlike civilised countries. These grubs don,t even have the guts to walk into a bank and rob it at gunpoint. Lock them up and beat them with a baseball bat until they give the stolen money back.

[lee b]

Big trouble in tourist Thailand brit guys got about 30 years for this crime did they not?

[KuhnPaen]

the article didn't say how they got caught!

i am intrigued to know how the Thai police managed to ever catch them....

if they are using fake cards on many ATM's around Pattaya, surely they have already committed the crime before the police are notified.

I'm puzzled how they got caught!

it would have made the read more interesting...

- Despite making fun of their lack of enthusiasm to uphold the law, I often admire how the Thai Police actually manage to catch so many criminals.

(or perhaps its just from tip-offs,,, therefore meaning that they actually didnt do much work to catch criminals after all!!)

anyway... how the thai police caught them would have made the story much more interesting, I think.

"Pol.Col. Suwan Chiaonawintawat said the police had received complaint from Siam Commercial Bank that it has lost large amount of money to individuals scamming the cash out of ATMs in Pattaya in recent days, so the police deployed detectives and informants around many potential crime scenes.

By the afternoon of 12 October, Pol.Col. Suwan said, the police were informed that the four Lithuanians could be seen acting suspiciously around an ATM in front of Good Inn Hotel."

[MarkCyr]

Here's a good post by the FBI about what skimming is and how to avoid it. One nugget I just learned -- they sometimes put a fake keypad over the real one to record keystrokes. Evil genius, I tell ya!

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/july/atm_071411

Even though these four bags of douche stole peanuts compared to some, I hope they go away for a loooooong time in some filthy Thai prison.

[DD13]

Same thing has been happening in England with these "Eastern Bloc" Scum

I had a card "cloned" at a fuel station, they got themselves jobs as cashiers, then repositioned the security camera to view the "pin number" machine....

I hope that the Thai authorities "don't" send them back, but give them 10 years in jail, feed them plain rice, and let them drink rain water....

It won't happen in England.....of course.... There they will be fined a small amount of money (which they will pay from the hand-outs we stupid English give them)

But I doubt that they will be sent back to where they come from

We Westeners are "SAPS"

Same here in OZ. They probably get a slap on the wrists and some money to get home.

Try British instead of English old chap.

Oops you are right.................

[wotaplonker]

mmm.i dont think these machines ave changed since reg varney first used one to take a tenner out.........

waaa I hate you Butler waaaaaa

[gk10002000]

I wonder if the victims of the thefts will have their money returned by the bank?

This would be the practise in England but I'm not sure how it works in Thailand... anybody know??

In the USA, ATM debit card losses are often just that losses. Consumers in America have much less protection or recourse using Debit/ATM cards than if they had used credit cards. Why? Well it is just the way the laws and the industry work. This is why I never use my ATM/debit/check card for anything but only to withdraw cash when I need it. I never shop with it.

What gets me is how do they get the PIN number? Just hang around the ATM and catch a glimpse of somebody as they enter their number? Do they just try a bunch of PINs, the usual stupid ones like: 1234, the card holder's birthdate etc. and hope to get lucky before the system times out or rejects the card?

Edited October 14, 2013 by gk10002000

[harber8]

What a group of complete nobs.

Piss off back home and have some respect.

Edited October 14, 2013 by Rimmer
Profane

[Bonefish]

I don t understand why thiefs still try to clear a ATM that way. There are so many other ways to clean those machines.

I think an gas them or repatch the transmitter signal to a laptop nearby.

This facke card thing is a typical east european way.

can't you make the effort to learn some understandable English before posting here?

[deepcell]

People got smart! Now it is time to develop new technologies for ATM or suffer the consequences.