3 visitors held over shopping with 61 forged credit cards

Three Malaysian visitors were arrested by the Abu Dhabi Police few hours after they had entered the country, in two separate cases, for allegedly using 61 fake credit cards for shopping goods worth 141,000.

The items bought by them varied from valuable hand watches, cell phones and accessories. The total bills including personal expenses, which failed to process the purchase transactions, stood over Dh1.6 million.

In the first case, the two suspects admitted during the investigation opened by the Organized Crime Section at the CID of the Abu Dhabi Police, chaired by Colonel Dr Rashid Mohammed Burasheed that they tried to use 37 forged credit cards.

Col Burasheed, quoting their confession, said that they bought the cards from somebody outside the country for AED 900 each. The police, following tip-offs about purchases using fake credit cards, managed to arrest the duo from a hotel.

Col. Burasheed said that the two suspects planned to buy expensive items against the fake credit cards and flee the country, but as there were no sufficient funds in the cards, this rendered the purchasing transactions made by the two suspects incomplete.

 
In the second case, a 25-year-old Malaysian was apprehended while he was shopping at a department store in Abu Dhabi. He was in possession of 24 counterfeit credit cards in his name and purchase receipts withdrawn from the fake cards.

He was caught right while he was trying to buy a watch costing about AED 40,000. The shopkeeper suspected him because the purchase transaction made through the credit card swiping machine failed.