Singaporean nabbed in Melaka over cloning debit cards for Japan black market

MELAKA – A syndicate involved in cloning debit cards has been busted with the arrest of a Singaporean man at a condominium in Tengkera.

Melaka police chief Dzulkhairi Mukhtar said the 42-year-old suspect was detained during a raid at 1.15pm on April 23. The police seized 227 Laos-based Joint Development Bank Visa debit cards along with equipment used to produce cloned debit cards, including a laser cutting machine, a heat gun and a debit card scanning machine.

He said preliminary investigations found that all the debit cards were printed with the names of Japanese citizens and were believed to be intended for sale in the Japanese market.

“Preliminary findings show the suspect had been renting the condominium since January and used the premises as a facility to process the cloned debit cards.

“The suspect is believed to have received supplies of Joint Development Bank debit cards from a certain party via courier service, before copying the data from the original cards and transferring it onto blank cloned cards using a laser machine,” he told a press conference here yesterday, Bernama reported.

After the cards are printed, the suspect would embed a chip and magnetic stripe in them and turn them into premium or platinum debit cards. He would then test them with a scanner and a terminal machine for functionality.

Deputy Commissioner Dzulkhairi said after processing, the fake cards were sent to new owners via ­courier, and the suspect received S$3,800 (RM12,600) a month.

The Singaporean is being investigated for cheating and violating the terms of his immigration pass.

He has been remanded for five days, and an application for an extension of the remand period will be made to facilitate further investigation. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK