Police crack fake credit card ring

A CRIMINAL ring dealing in fake credit cards and said to be operating in at least five European countries was intercepted yesterday by local police when they arrested one of its members as he tried to withdraw money from a Limassol ATM using a fake card.

Police were alerted to the operation of a counterfeit credit card scheme after credit card processing company JCC informed them of 50 uses of 16 forged credit cards at banks in Limassol.

It is believed by police that the credit cards used were forged outside of Cyprus and that they are clones, or exact copies, of real credit cards whose details had been stolen by the ring.

In total, the forged cards were used to steal €2,800 and to attempt to steal a further €4,500.

A 23-year-old Bulgarian man suspected to be a member of the gang was arrested in Limassol yesterday. Five fake credit cards were found in his possession and the rental car used by the gang was found in the area where the arrest was made. His accomplice, however, managed to escape before police could capture him.

The man was remanded in custody for eight days. Police are continuing their investigations in close co-operation with Interpol on the basis that the real names on the forged cards used in the scheme belong to individuals from Belgium, Holland, the UK, Slovenia and Italy.

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