THE three Romanian nationals, who were arrested for allegedly skimming local automated teller machines (ATMs), are believed to be part of an international syndicate.
The suspects have allegedly stolen millions of pesos in over a year.
"They are posing as businessmen here in country. It turned out, they made skimming hard-earned money as their business," said Special Investigator III Florante Gaoiran of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Central Visayas.
The NBI-Central Visayas is also monitoring three others foreign nationals, who are part of the group.
Agents found 45 micro scanner chips, clone cards, an improvised skimming tool, two laptops and a polo from the lockers of the two Romanians identified as Ionut Alexandru Mitrache, 32, and Costel Ion, 31.
The polo was identified as the one worn by a man who planted a skimming device in a Landbank of the Philippines ATM.
"One of them will plant the microchip card reader through the skimming tool attached with a powerful magnet. They will wait for a couple of hours until many depositors will transact with the machine. Maybe drink coffee at a nearby cafe and come back to harvest the data by inserting the tool and taking the chip again," the investigator said.
It's like waiting for your food to bake in the oven, Gaoiran said.
"The chip will then be turned over to the IT expert who will transfer the data to a blank clone card with a magnetic strip and they can already use it to withdraw cash," he added.
Gaoiran said the manufacture of scanner chips is not illegal but its usage is.
He said they will also try to determine the password of the laptops so they can open these since the Romanians were uncooperative.
The NBI-Central Visayas said that the two also resisted arrest.
The bureau will coordinate with police for their continuous monitoring of the other members of the syndicate.
The Romanians denied the accusations against them.
"We are innocent," one of them mumbled inside the detention cell of the NBI-Central Visayas.
They had P7,000 worth of Starbucks products delivered to their cell by an errand boy.
Before their arrest, Mitrache and Ion rented a condominium unit in Barangay Lahug and a P2.5-million Ford Mustang 5.0.
The car, which has a yellow conduction sticker (IO 1414) at the back, was captured by a Landbank's security camera.
At 3 p.m. last Friday, agents went to their condominium to invite Mitrache and Ion for questioning.
A few minutes later, Razvan Aurelian Stancu arrived. It turned out that he is the IT expert among the three.
They will be charged with violating Republic Act 8484, which penalizes persons who use or access devices for fraudulent acts.
Bail was set at P10,000 to P20,000.
But for stiffer penalties, Gaoiran said that victims should go to their office and file separate cases of theft against the Romanians.
"Per complainant, that is one count. For 50 confirmed complainants, that's 50 counts," he said.
This is not the first ATM skimming incident that a Romanian has been involved in.
Last Nov. 30, Julian Christian Pintile, 34, was caught in Makati City for the same offense.
Two Romanians residing in Sydney, Australia were also arrested on April 7, 2009 for posing as air-conditioner technician where they stashed the skimming devices they used.
Australian police also filed charges against five Romanians for skimming $1 million from 5,000 cardholders.
In Mumbai, India, three Romanians were also collared for victimizing 300 persons last Oct. 15, 2016.
Last August 11, Gabriel Marian, another Romanian, was caught for the same crime.