Bar workers conned patrons in credit card scam

File photo / Herald on Sunday

Two Brazilian men who worked at a Queenstown bar ripped off patrons for thousands of dollars using a sophisticated credit card scam.

Marcelo De Silva Araujo, 39, was yesterday convicted in the Queenstown District Court on six charges of using forged bank cards between June 1 and October 21, the Otago Daily Times reported today.

Police have not found the associate, thought to have returned to Brazil.

Araujo was arrested after police found several suspicious disabled credit cards in Queenstown ATMs.

He claimed the associate helped him forge the cards using a "cloning" device which transferred electronic data from the original cards to blank ones.

They were able to get access to victims' personal banking details using an electronic swipe device.

Police said Araujo went to Dunedin "with a number of forged credit cards" and withdrew $3200 from one victim's account in three separate transactions.

A second victim had $700 withdrawn from an account and a third victim lost $800.

Araujo told police he saw the offending as an easy way to get money and a victimless crime, as banks reimbursed the account holders.

Judge Dominic Flatley remanded Araujo on bail to reappear for sentencing on January 17 and suppressed all details leading to the identification of the bar.

- NZPA