KATHMANDU: Police recently busted a racket of Romanian nationals for their alleged involvement in banking fraud by hacking bank card PINs and using them to drag money from others' accounts in Nepal. Police have arrested Romanian nationals Ghita Huzum (52), Iosif Moraru (48) and Alexe Cristian Bughiurlan (45) from Hotel Nepal Tara  at Narsingh Chok of Thamel, Kathmandu on Friday. Police have also confiscated Rs 308,500, Euro 10,905 and Philippine Peso 470 and different equipment including ATM Cards, mobile phones, and cameras from their possession. The Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police said it was investigating into the case under the Banking Offence and Punishment Act, 2008. Meanwhile, police have alerted members of the public to ensure their safety before using their cards in ATM booths. They have asked the public to keep their PINs safe and change them regularly, and subscribe for SMS alerts for transactions to avoid any unauthorised use. READ ALSO:

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In past two years, the CIB had arrested four other foreigners – one each from Turkey and Romania and two from Bulgeria – for their involvement in similar cases. Modus operandi Meanwhile, the CIB said the suspects would fix pinholes or hidden cameras to record PINs of ATM cards at various ATM booths. Likewise, they would also fit duplicate card slots together with card reading devices which would save all the details of the users. With the help of card skimmers, they would copy all the details of the card to a blank card slot and use them to withdraw money by entering the PINs recorded by the hidden cameras.