Swede, Filipino arrested in Chiang Mai with 500 fake ATM cards

[webfact]

ATM skimmers nabbed in Chiang Mai
The Nation



CHIANG MAI: -- POLICE HAVE arrested two ATM skimmer suspects - a Swedish man and a Filipino - in Chiang Mai's Muang district along with 500 fake electronic cards.

Following a tip-off by a bank about someone using fake ATM cards to withdraw cash from its machines, Swedish national Per Johan Robin Bentley, 29, and Filipino national Matin Philip Javellana Magno, 31 were arrested at a mall on Sunday.

The pair were carrying fake cards. Hundreds more were found in their hotel room along with card-making and card-swiping machines and two eyeglass cameras modified so they could be attached to ATM machines.

Provincial Police Region 5 deputy chief Maj-General Tanitsak Teerasawat said police suspected the duo's network had stolen at least Bt10 million and they were looking for accomplices.

Bentley and Magno confessed and said they had skimmed in South Korea and the Philippines but were not arrested, Tanitsak said.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/ATM-skimmers-nabbed-in-Chiang-Mai-30241778.html


-- The Nation 2014-08-26

[MESmith]

"Withdraw" them from society for a loooooooong time!

[elektrified]

Hope they rot in a Thai prison.

[shirtless]

These guys should get 15 years only now do they show remorse

[Ricardo]

Well Done, the BiBs !

[lee b]

Lock them up and throw away the key, not only my own, but they would have cleared some poor guy or girls bank account out and left them with nothing. I Remember the thai tourist tv show when the father and son got caught doing this and im sure they got 26 years...Please correct me if im wrong. Big trouble in t......Thailand now i hope !!

[daveAustin]

Hang these bastards and set a precedent!

[Deaw]

So who is more screwed, this guy from Sweden or his homeless compatriot?

[jackh]

Thailand better make a strong example of these two nits after they "extract" all the info from them on who else they are involved with.

[technologybytes]

If they have been skimming Thai bank card details then they will be in big trouble.

Most people caught here using fake ATM cards are using card details skimmed in the west and then used here because of the low security on 95% of Thai ATM's, they don't spend too long in a Thai prison because there are no victims in Thailand and the cardholders are usually reimbursed by the western banks anyway.

Skimming Thai cards and then withdrawing the money here is stupidity on an epic scale.

It looks like these guys are independent from the more organized gangs that often use eastern europeans to do the withdrawals.

[96tehtarp]

These are common thieves.

[marcusd]

I knew this guy as I lived in the same condo. Friendly chap but now I know why.

[mok199]

get into your cages where you belong...BYE BYE ''KRAP''

[lucifer666]

I'm wondering what the paint remover/heat gun has to do with skimming.

[Jimbolai]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

So who is more screwed, this guy from Sweden or his homeless compatriot?

Have the homeless guy hang the Swedish bastard and then give the homeless guy a new home for 15 years + in a Thai prison.

[sanuk711]

Hope they rot in a Thai prison.---

These guys should get 15 years---

Lock them up and throw away the key

get into your cages where you belong

Hang these bastards and set a precedent!...............

What did you guys actually do before you came to Thailand, .... work at Stalag 9b...??

& yes it has happened to me twice , once in Oz they had a laptop under the counter in a service station they had rented -- & once in Thailand, ---(& I still do not know how that one happened--because they were not forthcoming in telling me) both times were a f***ing headache that I really wouldn't want to go through again .

I get a little more angry with Banks not spending their Billions in profits on state of the art security , that these guys sitting in a hotel room can not get around, & then trying not to pay out when their clients have been scammed ----maybe we can save the hangman's noose for them.

** Note my friend in BKK was unsuccessfully skimmed last year -- his new card they issued him only works in the banks own ATMs.--(Siam Bank), not as convenient as just using the nearest 711-machine, but the bank says , safer & less problems if skimmed. If you feel you are exposed, get your bank to do the same.

Edited August 26, 2014 by sanuk711

[maximillian]

Why can greed, rape, child abuse, cheating, stealing, robbing, killing, drug traficking not be eradicated from this planet ?

Sigh !

[bristolgeoff]

caught red handed and they pay the price now.somehow I think more may have being involved.chiang mai can be a small town sometimes and everyone knows your name

[sanuk711]

"chiang mai can be a small town sometimes and everyone knows your name---bristolgeoff"

Whats ya name...I live here..................

----------------------------

** Small town Chiang Mai now, Thailand's 3rd largest city..............http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/110194/Chiang-Mai

Edited August 26, 2014 by sanuk711

[PJcm]

If they have been skimming Thai bank card details then they will be in big trouble.

Most people caught here using fake ATM cards are using card details skimmed in the west and then used here because of the low security on 95% of Thai ATM's, they don't spend too long in a Thai prison because there are no victims in Thailand and the cardholders are usually reimbursed by the western banks anyway.

Skimming Thai cards and then withdrawing the money here is stupidity on an epic scale.

It looks like these guys are independent from the more organized gangs that often use eastern europeans to do the withdrawals.

I was just issued a new ATM by Bangkok Bank, my old ATM broke in half. It's different in that it has a chip embedded into it and the bank stated: It can only be used in Bangkok Bank ATM's. Is this ATM card a new generation and less vulnerable to the scams noted in this article?

[klauskunkel]

Swedish national Per Johan Robin Bentley

"You can't arrest me, I am the Bentley heir! Chalerm drives our car!...ooops, shouldn't have said that..."

[Strangebrew]

Reread article couple times where does it mention homeless man? Now for subject at hand if it is found they skimmed US cards That will be an whole different issue. They could be charged for each card skimmed. at 5 years a card could be many years.

[dennisrobertpell]

Yes they should go to prison..But the banksters that have robbed some of our pensions and savings get rewarded with mansions and yachts. What is good for the goose is good for the gander..

[deepcell]

son na na!

[TechnikaIII]

So who is more screwed, this guy from Sweden or his homeless compatriot?

The Swede. He comes from a country where social security is second to none. Medical and dental, all covered by the state. Better even than wealthier Norway. Social security takes care of his parents. He deserves no second chances, no clemency, no easy road back to Sweden, unless he's in a body bag, ... just a rope around his neck.

The Philippine associate has done serious wrong, but no doubt has a tougher existence, and certainly looks forward to none of the benefits enjoyed in the developed world (excluding the USA) He should and will do time. Enough to hurt, but not so much that will destroy any dependents back home.

Waste the Swede.

[Johnnie99]

 

Swedish national Per Johan Robin Bentley

"You can't arrest me, I am the Bentley heir! Chalerm drives our car!...ooops, shouldn't have said that..."

 

But he is Swedish, not German ...

[FM505]

Yes they should go to prison..But the banksters that have robbed some of our pensions and savings get rewarded with mansions and yachts. What is good for the goose is good for the gander..

Sources... ?

Seriously, you have a beef lay it out with the facts... names, dates, etc. Just the basic truths...

[notbkk]

I have seen the "Swede" in my soi in Sathorn, BKK talking to an acquaintance of mine, before. Not a Swede at all! Iranian, I think. very scaly person with shifty eyes...

[belg]

i'm sure there is a whole gang still running around ... maybe time to check with whom they entered the country

[arunsakda]

Hope they rot in a Thai prison.---

These guys should get 15 years---

Lock them up and throw away the key

get into your cages where you belong

Hang these bastards and set a precedent!...............

What did you guys actually do before you came to Thailand, .... work at Stalag 9b...??

& yes it has happened to me twice , once in Oz they had a laptop under the counter in a service station they had rented -- & once in Thailand, ---(& I still do not know how that one happened--because they were not forthcoming in telling me) both times were a f***ing headache that I really wouldn't want to go through again .

I get a little more angry with Banks not spending their Billions in profits on state of the art security , that these guys sitting in a hotel room can not get around, & then trying not to pay out when their clients have been scammed ----maybe we can save the hangman's noose for them.

** Note my friend in BKK was unsuccessfully skimmed last year -- his new card they issued him only works in the banks own ATMs.--(Siam Bank), not as convenient as just using the nearest 711-machine, but the bank says , safer & less problems if skimmed. If you feel you are exposed, get your bank to do the same.

Now I think this is a couple pieces of Human Garbage but USA type sentencing is too severe (5 years per card or whatever). The death penalty is barbaric. I understand the need for reduced or suspended sentences for negligence, creative accounting loopholes, not knowing the law, etc., but these guys acted on purpose. They came to Thailand probably walking around falsely saying "Oh I love it here so much", I want to learn Thai, give me a visa. Then they go and take a dump on the Nation and people who welcomed them. They wasted their knowledge, efforts and abilities. Instead of getting a job, starting a business, learning a new skill, or volunteering to help people they made a conscious decision to steal, thus showing the true nature of their parasitic existence.

At their young ages they require and deserve 7-10 years custodial sentence minimum, to be served in Thailand. It is important especially that Per not be transferred as he will return to Sweden only to be mollycoddled by State.

Edited August 26, 2014 by arunsakda