Four Bulgarians arrested for card skimming in Bali

KASUS SKIMMING PERBANKAN - DENPASAR. Four Bulgarians have been arrested in Bali for skimming bank cards. They allegedly stole card data at ATMs and withdrew money from their victims' bank accounts. The four Bulgarians are identified as Kalayon Kirilov Spasov, 38, Lyubomir Todorov Bogdanov, 33, Nikolay Valentinov Dinev, 39 and Valentin Chavdarov Galchev, 31. 

“We arrested all the suspects [red-handed] in Pecatu, South Kuta,” Bali Police general crime director Sr. Comr. Andi Fairan told a press conference on Friday. 

Andi explained that at the time of the arrest, the perpetrators had just withdrawn some money from an ATM. “We seized Rp 2 million [US$141.70] in cash from the suspect. They withdrew the money from the victim's bank account through the ATM,” Andi said. 

The suspects put a hidden camera inside the ATM to record PIN numbers. “They put a fake PIN keypad cover in the ATM, which has been attached with a hidden camera. Once they make a fake card using data they steal, they can withdraw money using the PIN number,” Andi said. 

The suspects face a potential prison sentence of more than five years as the police will charge them under the Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law and the Criminal Code. 

Andi alleged that the suspects were related to a previous arrest. Earlier this year, Bali Police arrested five other Bulgarians in a similar case. “They are from the same syndicate. Further investigations into this case are still ongoing,” Andi said.