National Threat Assessment 2008. Organised Crime - Politie

terminal is returned and all traces are carefully wiped to prevent shop assistants
from becoming suspicious. The modified chip and pin terminal can now copy
the customer’s magnetic strip and record his or her pin code at the same time.
The data are stored on a printed circuit board that is installed in the terminal.
After a few days the skimming equipment is removed using the same procedure.
The printed circuit board with the customers’ details is read by a computer and
the details are sent abroad via the Internet or by text message (SMS). In the
other country the data are copied onto the blank magnetic strip of a card,
after which the criminals can start cashing in.
4.7.3 Scale
In 2003 and 2004 Dutch banks fitted anti-skimming equipment to their cash
machines, such as a plastic front over the machine’s card insert slot. As a result,
the number of skimming incidents dropped dramatically in 2005. However, even
though skimming had disappeared almost completely in the Netherlands in
2005, new reports were received in 2006. These reports mostly involved retail
chains such as garden centres or DIY stores, but the ticket machines at train
stations were also targeted. The number of private individuals who fall victim
to these skimming operations varies between several dozen and hundreds. The
organisation handling the electronic money transfers in the Netherlands issued
a total of 15 warnings in 2005 and 70 warnings in 2006. This figure had already
risen to 175 in the first nine months of 2007.
4.7.4 Criminal organisation
International offender groups operate using a cellular structure, whereby they
usually target Europe. The offenders mainly come from Romania and, to a lesser
extent, Bulgaria. All of the cells are linked to a single organisation in Romania.
The hierarchy of the organisation is strict, with various roles and responsibilities
such as intermediaries, technicians, people who carry out preliminary
reconnaissance, burglars, people who install skimming equipment and others
who remove it, and finally the cashers who use the stolen pin codes to get
money abroad. The groups are highly specialised, especially in ICT, and there are
no indications of involvement in other criminal activities. In the 14 most recent
skimming cases a total of 30 people were arrested, 22 of whom came from
Romania, three from Bulgaria and two from the Netherlands.
chapter 4 – Supraregional property crime
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