Controlled By Bulgarians From Kerobokan Prison, 1,000 Accounts Lost Money Due To Skimming

DENPASAR – baliprawara.com

ATM skimming case is back on the rise. Finally, the Bali Police managed to uncover two groups of cyber crime skimming crimes.

From the police investigation, there were customers from 7 National banks and 1 largest regional bank in Bali who were victims of skimming. One National Bank even lost up to Rp. 3 billion from the accounts of 1,000 customers that the perpetrators broke.

Deputy Chief of Bali Police Special Criminal Investigator, AKBP Ambariyadi Wijaya, S.IK., SH., MH., With permission from the Bali Police Chief, Insp. Gen. Pol. Drs. Putu Jayan Danu Putra, SH., M.Sc., said that there were two groups that were successfully secured. The first group with 4 perpetrators of skimming cases, they were arrested on January 8, 2021. This first group was controlled from Kerobokan prison by a recidivist from Bulgaria named Dogan.

The perpetrators of this first group include Aris Said from Jember, a former drug convict, Endang Indriyawati from Solo who is Aris’s wife, Putu Rediarsa from Buleleng, a former drug convict, and Christopher B Diaz from Papua who is also a former drug convict.

“The perpetrators of the first group are also affiliated with drug offenders and we are still investigating. For evidence there are 5 cellphones, 234 fake ATM cards that have been secured. This group specializes in withdrawing money using fake ATM cards that have been filled in with the card data of the victim’s bank customer, “said Ambariyadi, accompanied by the Head of Sub-Directorate, AKBP Gusti Ayu Suinaci, S.IK., M.IK., and the Head of Sub-Division of Penmas Bidhumas of Bali Police, AKBP I Gusti Ayu Yuli Ratnawati, SE., when giving a press statement Tuesday (February 9).

Further explained, the perpetrator’s working mechanism, starting with the ATM card was obtained from someone in Kerobokan prison named Aldo from Bulgaria. When in action to withdraw money at an ATM, the perpetrator used a fake ATM card, while the PIN was controlled by the perpetrator named Dogan who was in Kerobokan Prison.

Meanwhile, for the second group of 3 perpetrators from Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara, were arrested on January 25, 2021. The perpetrators were Junaidin, Alamsyah and Miska. Ambariyadi said that the three of them are now known as farmers who previously worked as Indonesian Migrant Workers. From the deep investigation, at that time they learned and collaborated with relations across China and Malaysia. The three preperators are in Bali, Tarakan, Surabaya, Jember, Solo, Bima, Sumbawa, Kupang and Palembang.

“For the second group, since 2018 they installed a skimming device in an ATM machine and then duplicating a card controlled from Malaysia, then executed and cash withdrawal. The dominant local victims whose money has been lost are up to hundreds of millions,” he said.

The evidence secured by the police included 3 laptops, 1 notebook, 1,162 fake ATM cards, Rp. 6.9 million cash, 1 plastic rubber band, 1 magnetic stripe card reader/ writer, 1 set of versatile screwdrivers, 4 hidden cameras, 3 skimmer tools, 7 hidden camera power batteries, 4 flash discs, 3 modems, 1 magnifying glass, 4 packs of electronic devices allegedly for hidden cameras, 4 cans of Pilox paint, 1 blue card holder, and various types of tape.

“This second group was revealed by the many reports of skimming occurring in Bali at the end of 2020. Furthermore, in November 2020, an investigation was carried out by the Bali Regional Police’s Cyber ​​Crime Sub-Directorate Team in several areas in Denpasar, Badung, and Gianyar in collaboration with the banking sector. The results of the investigation and examination of the perpetrators admitted that they had made transactions at several ATMs around Denpasar and Badung using all the magnetic stripe cards found by the perpetrators. The seven perpetrators received 10% of the total value of the money being stolen,” he explained.

As a result of their actions they are now detained at the Bali Police detention center and charged under Article 30 JO Article 46 of Law No. 19 of 2016 concerning Amendments to Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 11 of 2008 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) and / or Article 55 of the Criminal Code with the threat of a maximum imprisonment of 8 years and or a maximum fine of Rp. 800 million.

“People in Bali are advised to be careful in conducting banking transactions and always ensure the security of their PIN numbers, do not give PIN numbers to anyone, in transactions to close the keypad buttons by hand so that our PIN is not known, change the PIN periodically, and if you find any suspicious, immediately report to the authorities, “he hoped.

From the data, there were recorded cases of skimming in the last 4 years from 2018-2021. The Bali Police Special Criminal Investigation has uncovered 22 cases by arresting 45 people who carried out various moduses and used various evidence. The details of the disclosure of skimming cases each year, namely, in 2018 there were 2 cases, 2019 as many as 5 cases, 2020 as many as 13 cases and 2021 as many as 2 cases. There were 45 perpetrators, 19 Bulgarian, 12 Romanian, 2 Polish, 2 Filipino, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Turkish and 8 Indonesian. (MBP1)