The crime branch of Mumbai police has arrested a Bulgarian national for allegedly running a debit/credit card skimming racket. The accused foreigner has been identified as 45-year-old Fergier Vensislav, who is one of the key members of the gang. The arrest was made by Crime Branch Unit 7 on Sunday. Vensisilav was operating from a three-star hotel in Andheri.
Police said they are on the lookout for another Bulgarian national involved in the racket. Police suspect that the duo is connected to an international gang that siphons off money from ATM machine using skimming tools. A case was registered by Goregaon police on November 26 against unknown persons for forgery and cheating on a complaint from a local resident. The complainant claimed he lost Rs 6,680 even though he did not use his debit card.
It is suspected that the man was cheated by the accused using the skimming technique. Other people had also lodged similar complaints from the same locality. The suspect used to secretly install skimming devices at ATM machines. The accused then stole the credit and debit card credentials of the customers. Later, the accused used to create cloned cards to withdraw money from ATM kiosks.
The crime branch received a tip-off that a foreign national, who was staying at a Andheri hotel, was involved in a skimming scam. The crime branch team raided the hotel room and arrested the Bulgarian national. The police have also seized two mobile phones, a laptop used to make cloned cards.
The cops analysed the CCTV footage of an ATM in Goregaon where dozens of people lost their money. The footage matched the description of the accused. Cops say they have informed the Bulgarian embassy about the arrest of its national and also about the other absconding accused.