Computer fraud with electronic payment cards motivates seven arrests

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Seven businessmen indicted for the practice of computer fraud with electronic payment cards were arrested this week by the Central Directorate for Combating Banditry of the Judicial Police.

The group, which the PJ admits could reach forty entrepreneurs, would simulate expenses in establishments whether they were settled using fake cards, which had been cloned from real cards.

The scam was carried out in establishments of such diverse origin as restaurants or car stands, located between Ribatejo and the Algarve, places that the PJ is investigating and where it has been conducting searches.

According to Público, which announced the news in Friday’s edition, the first seven detained by the police must have made payments of more than 20 thousand euros each, for a total of 140 thousand euros.

The investigation of the case was motivated by a complaint from SIBS that identified a set of suspicious operations and reported them to the Judiciary. The police are now investigating the way in which the fraudsters and the cloned cardholders shared the stolen money among themselves.

Due to the characteristics of the crime, fraudsters incur penalties that can vary between two and eight years in prison, if they are not also charged with the crime of counterfeiting currency.

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2006-08-30 – Card cloning has already generated 125 thousand euros in fraudulent withdrawals