THE suspected automated teller machine (ATM) skimmer caught inside a mall in Mandaue City last Dec. 10 has pending cases in the courts in the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod.
Five persons also went to Mandaue City Police Office (MCPO) and identified suspect Lunalyn De Pedro as the person who duped them.
Chief Insp. Mercy Villaro, the city police spokesperson, said they received four warrants of arrest against De Pedro for violating Republic Act (RA) 8484, malicious mischief and theft.
De Pedro was accused of stealing P15,000 last September. The largest amount that De Pedro allegedly stole was P60,000.
The other victims are from the cities of Talisay, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.
Villaro said the suspect admitted that she left Region 6 after she was charged in court. She transferred to Negros Oriental and duped an ATM card holder in Dumaguete City before she moved to Cebu.
MCPO investigators learned that De Pedro also duped a person in Minglanilla and skimmed the ATM in the Cebu South Bus Terminal in Cebu City.
De Pedro continued to deny that she is a member of a syndicate, saying she acted alone. But one of her alleged victims said De Pedro had a companion.
Villaro said they will charge De Pedro with five counts of theft, malicious mischief and RA 8484 in relation to RA 10175, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
RA 8484, or Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998, regulates the issuance of access devices like credit cards.
The law prohibits “the use of a falsified document, false information, fictitious identities and addresses, or any form of false pretense or misrepresentation” in the application of an access device.”
RA 10175 punishes persons who commit computer-related offenses, such as forgery, fraud and identity theft. (from FMD of SuperBalita Cebu/KAL)