Boonlua Chatree
Tourist Police in Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai joined
forces to arrest a Frenchman who allegedly used forged ATM cards to steal
money from tourists.
Belkacem Batache has been arrested for counterfeiting ATM cards and theft.
Belkacem Batache, 35, was arrested Nov. 26 in a Phuket
hotel based on a Pattaya Provincial Court arrest warrant that he’d used a
counterfeit card last month to steal funds from unnamed bank in Pattaya.
Phuket Tourist Police seized a Visa-branded credit card, 40,000 baht, three
mobile phones, notebook and clothing.
Tourist Police investigators suspect Batache of being
part of a gang of international thieves who grab ATM numbers from
unsuspecting tourists, then use them to create new cards and hack into
accounts via automated teller machines in Phuket, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and
other tourist destinations.
Batache was charged with counterfeiting ATM cards and
theft and was shipped to Pattaya for further proceedings.