Police nab 16 suspects in credit card forgery case

Shanghai police said yesterday that they busted a fraud gang and detained 16 suspects for forging credit cards with stolen information last month.

The suspects purchased digital products, cigarettes and wine in Pudong, Yangpu and Minhang districts with credit cards and then sold them at lower prices in Hongkou District to get cash, the Economic Crime Investigation Division of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau said.

The suspects earned more than 100,000 yuan (US$16,080) from the scam.

"A card holder was found shopping in America and in Shanghai at the same time, thus something had to be wrong," said Dai Xinfu, a director of the Economic Crime Investigation Division. "The gang had stolen a man's credit card information to make a duplicate card."

After a month of investigation, police found the gang, led by a man surnamed Luo, first bought stolen information of card holders through the Internet from other suspects in Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong provinces and forged duplicate credit cards, both domestic and overseas, in Shanghai. The gang then used the cards to buy iPhones, iPads, cigarettes and wine to sell for cash.

The suspects were caught in a joint action in Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian and Shandong in November. More than 300 fake credit cards, numerous card-making machines and card holder information were found by officers.

"Most of the confiscated bank cards were American credit cards," Dai said, adding that police are still searching for suspects who are not in the country.