Three Malaysians arrested for allegedly using fake credit cards

SONGKHLA, June 8 (TNA) -- Immigration police arrested three Malaysians at the border checkpoint in Sadao district of Songkhla for allegedly using fake credit cards to withdraw more than 600,000 baht in Thailand. Tan Kok King, 43, Lim Poh Leang, 40, and Koay Soon Lee, 44, were arrested while they were leaving the Sadao checkpoint on their vehicle to Malaysia in the evening of June 6. Police said that they had entered southern Thailand in disguise of tourists on May 9 and withdrawn money from ATMs in Songkhla and Phuket provinces. Police seized from them 30 fake credit cards, a skimmer designed to be attached to ATMs, a book recording hundreds of credit card passwords, clothes in three bags they had used during withdrawals, and cash in many currencies including 400,000 Vietnamese dong and US$20. Police found that they had spent lavishly during their stay in the southern provinces and were returning to Malaysia after spending most of illegally withdrawn money. They were arrested as immigration police received their information from affected banks. The gang allegedly hacked into 13 bank accounts and each account owner lost money equivalent to 1,000-20,000 baht. The three confessed to the crime and said they had spent stolen money at entertainment venues. (TNA)