Romanian police have raided seven credit card skimming rings accused of stealing more than two million euros ($ 2.5 million) from European and US card holders, officials said yesterday.
Police coordinated searches on Thursday in Romania, Britain, Germany, the US and the Dominican Republic to break up the rings, apprehending more than 70 suspects, Romanian prosecutors said.
The gangs allegedly placed skimming devices in cash dispensers and payment terminals in Austria, Britain, Columbia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland to capture credit card data.
Cloned cards were then used to withdraw "substantial amounts of money in the Dominican Republic, the United States, Japan, Jordan and Nepal", a prosecutors statement said.
The criminal networks involved more than 100 people and had been operating since 2011.
Investigations were conducted in cooperation with the European police and justice bodies Europol and Eurojust, the US FBI and authorities in five European countries.
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