Romanian Cash Machine Skimming Gang Stole $1.2 Billion From Tourists in Mexico

The cash machine company “Intacash” installed sophisticated debit and credit card skimming devices on at least 100 machines, and distributed them throughout Mexico, including in many tourist spots.

Intacash is owned by Florian ‘The Shark’ Tudor, who is allegedly also the leader of Romanian mafia gang ‘Riviera Maya’.

It is alleged the skimming operation stole card details from an average 1000 cards per cash machine every month and siphoned an average of $200 from every card. This allowed the gang to steal approximately $20 million per month.

A three-part web series published in 2015 by Brian Krebs of KrebsOnSecurity.com detailed a discovery of around two dozen Intacash machines with Bluetooth-enabled skimming devices.

These devices are much more difficult to identify than the typical devices fitted on the exterior of a cash machine.

A report published yesterday by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) fills out the whole picture. The OCCRP allege that Police investigator now believe “Intacash installed the same or similar skimming devices in its own ATMs prior to deploying them – despite advertising them as equipped with the latest security features and fraudulent device inhibitors.”

Watch the 2015 investigation on https://krebsonsecurity.com and read the OCCRP’s report at https://www.occrp.org/en