CEBU CITY - Authorities yesterday warned credit card owners to be extra careful when transacting business using their credit cards following the arrest of six people allegedly belonging to a "highly-organized" syndicate with capabilities to capture credit card users' information and use fake cards from stolen data. Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe said the public should heed this warning regarding their credit cards particularly because of the existence of skimming machines that can obtain credit card information which can be encoded into fake cards for use by criminals in their own transactions. Buenafe issued the warning after members of the so-called "Bautista Group"` which allegedly operate in Manila and Mindanao were arrested following an entrapment operation. The arrested suspects were identified as Gelatio Bautista Nataño, James Alcantara, Anthony Villarama, Bernardo Cruz, Rudolfo Gaya, Anthony Jarlo and Maria Roxanne Venezuela Torlao. Recovered from the suspects were at least 20 assorted credit and debit cards, assorted identification cards, a skimmer device, a pack containing substance suspected to be the illegal drug methamphetamine hydrochloride or "shabu," and other paraphernalia believed to be used by the gang in their operations. The CCPO Director said they have been monitoring the group after receiving complaints from bank employees and establishment owners about a group of people using fake cards. Buenafe said that these credit card skimmers or skim artists usually recruit accomplices at such establishments as restaurants, hotels and retail shops. Their accomplice, say, a waiter, would be given an illegal electronic device known as a skimmer that can capture all of the personal information from a credit card or debit card of a victim.
The card will be swiped secretly and quickly on the skimmer and in a matter of seconds, the device would have captured a cardholder's name, address, telephone number, credit card number, credit limit and PIN number. The secured information will then be downloaded onto a computer and subsequently encoded into a fake credit card under the victim's name. The legitimate cardholder will eventually notice unauthorized charges recorded in his or her monthly statement of account. Buenafe said gang members can also take the ATM cardholder's PIN number by capturing on video, via a video transmitter, a cardholder's hands while he or she is using an automated teller machine (ATM).
