12 held in global card fraud swoop

TWELVE foreign nationals have been arrested in Dublin as part of a global swoop on a bogus credit card gang responsible for stealing up to €20 million.

A total of 178 people on three continents have been arrested for questioning in connection with the massive fraud scheme, linked to laboratories where bogus cards were manufactured.

The gang involved in the scheme is understood to have stolen more than €20m using falsified credit cards.

As part of the police crackdown, 16 arrests were made in Romania, 30 in France, seven in Italy, 16 in Germany, 12 in Ireland and eight in the United States, as well as two in Australia, two in Sweden, two in Greece, three in Finland and four in Hungary.

It is understood that none of the 12 people arrested here are Irish and that some may be from eastern Europe. The arrests were made in the Dublin area.

Police in 14 countries were involved in the operation, which comes at the end of a two-year investigation. In all, 11 laboratories used in the scam were found.

In Spain alone 76 people were arrested and six labs used to clone credit and debit cards were smashed.

Police there also discovered 120,000 stolen credit card numbers and 5,000 cloned cards, and seized 30 cash points which had been manipulated so users’ bank card details could be obtained.

The scale of the criminal operation, understood to have been rooted in Spain, is said to take in armed robbery, blackmail, sexual exploitation and money-laundering.

The international police swoop, code-named Operation Nuclear, began in Valencia after police there uncovered the activities of a gang involved in credit card fraud. One of those investigated is thought to be one of the ringleaders of the overall organisation.

Detectives say sub-groups answering to the gang leaders were set up in different countries. Group leaders paid a percentage of their benefits to gang bosses and engaged in criminal campaigns, moving from zone to zone. Police say the gang paid shop workers in countries around the world who passed on customers’ credit card details.

They also manipulated cash-points and hired hackers who designed computer programmes to trawl through the internet and capture the card details of people who made purchases online.

A spokesman for Spain’s National Police said: “They committed card fraud on a massive scale. We believe they may have obtained more than €20 million in benefits. Sub-groups set up in each of the 14 countries where police have acted, formed part of a global criminal network. They falsified cards with numbers obtained fraudulently and used them to take money out of machines or buy goods in stores.”

In a statement the Gardaí said they were working closely with other European police forces with the assistance of Europol and other agencies to combat international organised crime.

“Organised crime knows no borders and highlights the importance of international co-operation and the sharing of intelligence between the numerous law enforcement agencies. An Garda Síochána are committed to targeting organised crime at all levels and wish to acknowledge the valuable assistance provided by other police forces.”

Just last week Europol and the Gardaí arrested four men as part of a major investigation into a sophisticated money counterfeiting operation based near Borris–in–Ossory in Co Offaly.