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The pair were sentenced to two and four years in jail following a months-long AFP-led investigation.
A pair of Romanian nationals living in the Sydney suburb of Rhodes have been sentenced to jail terms on 30 August after pleading guilty to a range of offences related to ATM card fraud.
Specifically, the two – a 34-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman – installed credit card shimmers on ATMs in Sydney and Melbourne.
Shimmers are small devices that look like a spacer on the card slot of an ATM and are capable of recording card details. The pair used these account details to then withdraw $36,000 from their victims’ accounts.
The AFP-led Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) began its investigation of the pair in June, following a tip received from the United States Secret Service regarding a shipment of ATM shimmers being sent to Australia.
The JPC3 was able to link the shipment to the two Romanians, and AFP officers witnessed both installing the devices and withdrawing funds from compromised accounts from bank branches. The AFP executed a search warrant on the pair’s home in August and seized shimming devices, fake IDs, card readers and other electronic devices, and $12,935 in cash.
The man pleaded guilty to seven charges related to the scam, and the woman four. The man was sentenced to four years and two months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two and a half years. The woman received a sentence of two years and six months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of one and a half years.
The AFP expects the two to be deported upon release.
“This investigation is a great example of the work the JPC3 does. The intelligence sharing and joint investigation between the USSS, banks and state and territory police partners has helped us identify and prosecute cyber criminals scamming, stealing and defrauding innocent Australians,” said AFP Detective Superintendent Tim Stainton in a statement.
“Criminals will unashamedly use any tools they have available to exploit people for their own greedy profit, at the expense of Australians who are already doing it tough.
“This should serve as a reminder that no matter where you are, your criminal actions can always be traced, and the AFP will not hesitate to bring you before the courts.”
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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