ArmInfo.Theft of large funds from ATMs using counterfeit bank cards was revealed.
According to the RA Police, the Department for Combating Crimes in the Sector of High Technologies of the Main Directorate of the Criminal Police received operational information that someone from the ATMs belonging to one of the foreign banks of Armenia using computer technology during 2019-2020 years committed theft on an especially large scale by cashing.
On the basis of the received operational information, large-scale operational-search measures were taken, during which law enforcement officers collaborated with employees of the relevant bank service.
The locations of the ATMs from which money had been stolen by counterfeit bank cards were identified. Continuing the operational-search activities, operational data were obtained about the suspect in theft. The identity of the suspect was clarified, and information was obtained about which ATM on August 13, he would probably cash out. On the same day, officers of the General Directorate of the Criminal Police, while attempting to cash out, detained a 30-year-old man from Yerevan, who, during a personal search, found 3 counterfeit plastic cards and cash.
Factual data were received that in July-August alone he stole 7.5 million AMD from the bank's ATMs using fake plastic cards. It also turned out that the cards were made in the United States using computer technology and brought to Armenia, and by placing them in ATMs and dialing the appropriate codes, he cashed amounts of different sizes.
A criminal case was initiated on the fact under paragraph 1 of part 3 of Article 181 (theft committed with the use of computer equipment on an especially large scale) of the RA Criminal Code. The instituted criminal case was sent to the Investigative Committee for preliminary investigation. A 30-year-old resident of Yerevan was detained. The investigation continues.