Gang arrested for swindling Dh223m using stolen credit card information

Dubai: Police have arrested a gang of four who swindled more than Dh223 million by stealing credit card information used in online transactions and withdrawing money from the accounts of the owners, police said on Monday.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had received information in July this year that a gang of Arab men were stealing credit card information from people making online transactions on websites that offer government and semi-government services, and purchasing online from some shops.

After monitoring and collecting evidence, the CID teams then raided the gang's den and arrest them red-handed with the devices they were using to carry out their operations.

Two people were arrested, who then guided the police to the third suspect, who had been detained at one of the police stations for another case.

Police also identified a fourth suspect who was outside the country, but police made the necessary arrangements to extradite him. It did not name the country.

Precaution

Colonel Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Deputy Director of CID, said the suspects were able to steal information from 16,975 credit cards.

He called on banking institutions to constantly monitor ATMs and inform security bodies about any suspicious devices that are installed on or near the machines.

He also called on the public to safeguard information of their credit cards and not reveal them to anyone and to take precautions when using the cards.