Amirou Benlochi and Abdelhakin Dekhil have been
arrested and charged with counterfeiting ATM cards and robbery.
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Two more French nationals have been arrested for
allegedly cloning automated teller machine cards and robbing the accounts of
unsuspecting tourists.
Amirou Benlochi, 32, and Abdelhakin Dekhil, 28, were
arrested Feb. 24 and charged with counterfeiting ATM cards and robbery.
Col. Thirapol Jindalhuang said the latest arrests were
part of the ongoing investigation into a ring of French fraudsters who offer
to “assist” ATM users then steal their card and personal identification
numbers.
Alexandre Giro Zinno, 29, and Ali Ennouri, 28, were taken
into custody Feb. 15 with police confiscating a duplicating machine and
100,000 baht in cash. The latest two arrests apparently came from
information received from Zinno and Ennouri.
Police grabbed Benlochi and Dekhil at the Eurasia Hotel
on Soi Yensabai. They are alleged to have altered ATM machines with
“skimmers” so that when users insert their cards, the numbers are copied and
the PIN codes captured.
Both men denied the charges.
