ATM Skimming Syndicate in West Jakarta Learned Criminal Methods Self-Taught
West Jakarta Metro Police Chief, Kombes Pol. Nasriadi, stated that the theft syndicate, which has drained Rp205 million from victims using an ATM jamming modus operandi, learned their criminal methods through self-directed study.
He noted that the four-person syndicate equipped themselves with dozens of specially printed counterfeit ATM cards designed to deceive victims at ATM booths. “They operated across several banks and had printed many fake ATM cards as ‘capital’. For example, if they were to act at a Bank A ATM booth, they would have prepared a fake backup card that resembles Bank A’s card,” Nasriadi said during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Nasriadi explained that of the four syndicate members, one person monitored from the outside, while two remained on standby inside the ATM booth. “The task of the two individuals inside was to obstruct the ATM card slot using a toothpick. After that, they would wait for a victim to arrive,” he said.
When a victim arrived and attempted to insert their card into the machine, the card would fail to enter. The subsequent offer of assistance—which was actually a trap—was accepted by the victims, leading them to hand over their original ATM cards to the perpetrators.
“Quickly, the perpetrator would replace the victim’s original card with the prepared counterfeit card, and then return the fake card to the victim,” he added.
Once the victim inserted the fake card, another syndicate member was specifically tasked with spying and memorising the victim’s PIN. “When the victim entered their PIN, because the card was fake, an error message would appear on the screen such as ‘Your card cannot be processed’ or ‘Contact your bank’. However, by this point, the other perpetrator had already successfully obtained the victim’s PIN,” he continued.
After securing the original card and obtaining the PIN, the perpetrators would immediately proceed to another ATM to withdraw funds from the victim’s account.
Meanwhile, West Jakarta Metro Police Criminal Investigation Unit Head, AKBP Arfan Sipayung, added that based on initial examinations, the perpetrators admitted to carrying out the scheme only twice. The most recent incident in February was uncovered by police following victim reports and the monitoring of the perpetrators’ movements as they returned to a crime scene.
“Regarding their actions, we have only investigated two incidents so far, but we will continue our further investigation,” said Arban.
Police also revealed that the suspects had no background in the banking industry. The skills required to jam the machines and forge cards were acquired purely through self-learning. To facilitate the printing of the counterfeit cards, Arfan stated that the perpetrators utilised general printing services under the pretext of ordering items for a personal collection to avoid suspicion.
Currently, the police are continuing their investigation to identify potential other crime scenes.