Two foreigners detained on suspicion of skimming bank card information in Finland

Finnish police have arrested two foreigners on suspicion of stealing bank card information in Finland, reported local media on Friday.

The suspects have installed skimming devices on a number of ATMs in different areas of Finland, and skimmed data of hundreds, if not thousands of debit cards, said Finnish daily Iltalehti.

Janne Saari, Detective Chief Inspector of the Uusimaa Police Department, told Iltalehti that information obtained by skimmers were used in foreign countries to make cloned cards, which have been used successfully.

The information held by police showed that cloned cards have undergone significant cash withdrawals in the Far East.

The two foreign suspects arrived in Finland last November. They were arrested on suspicion of aggravated payment fraud, but the police did not disclose the nationality of the two men.

Saari believed that the available information might be only a tip of the iceberg. Such a case involves a number of factors, some of which are in Finland and others are in somewhere else, said Saari.

This is a fully organized and professional crime, which requires technical knowledge and professional skills, said Saari. Endit