Two foreign nationals were arrested in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Hua Hin district for allegedly defrauding people by cloning their ATM cards and withdrawing money from their accounts, police said.
Gim Teck We, 33, a Malaysian national, was nabbed by police outside a hotel in the resort town. Found in his possession were 209 blank electronic cards, two cloned cards, six bank books, and an electronic card reading/writing device.
Shortly after police arrested Iacob Corne, 39, a Romanian national, outside a nearby hotel after they learned from Mr Gim that he was staying there. Police seized 28 magnetic strip cards with data, a data copying device, and an electronic card reading/writing device.
Police said the suspects stole people's ATM card data using skimming devices and made duplicate cards they used to withdraw money from the victims' bank accounts.
According to police, the pair operated for three months in several areas in Bangkok and Hua Hin and they procured the electronic card reading/writing devices from China and the skimmer devices from England.
They were initially charged with colluding to make and use fake electronic cards while Mr Gim was also charged with illegal entry into the country.
Pol Lt Gen Phakphumpipat Sajjapan, chief of the Immigration Bureau, said investigations began following complaints from bank customers and a unit of Kasikorn Bank.
The bank customers found that their money was withdrawn via ATMs but they had not lost their cards, he said. Police found from the investigation that two foreigners installed skimming devices at ATMs and then made duplicated cards to carry out money withdrawals.