Police too quick for eftpos card fraudsters

NZ Police have nabbed the Eftpos fraudsters. Photo / APN

An international crime syndicate stealing up to $125 million a year by tampering with eftpos machines was stopped by Auckland fraud detectives before any customers lost cash.

In the new skimming fraud, eftpos machine pin-pads are stolen, modified with microchips, then re-installed.The altered machines record the bank account details of swiped cards, which can then be cloned to blank cards.

The user's pin number is recorded by tiny cameras hidden nearby, electronic "key loggers" in the keypad, or by "shoulder-surfing", in which thieves watch the transaction.

Police were alerted when 11 retailers reported the theft of pin-pads.

Canadians Guillermo Alexis Esquivel Lemus, 21, Giovanni Patroni Hernandez, 24, and Jonathan Burrell, 30, subsequently admitted participating in an organised crime group. Lemus and Hernandez have been sentenced to two years' jail. Burrell will be sentenced next year.