Hit the magicians of card exchange at ATMs: more than 30,000 euros stolen from lonely elderly people

Three men and a woman, between 40 and 50 years old, each with their role perfectly established. That was, in broad strokes, the letter of introduction of a gang dedicated to stealing bank cards from ATMs, without violence or electronic devices, only with persuasion and a trick older than the comic: that of the change. The four stole more than 30,000 euros in at least twelve criminal acts, committed in Rivas Vaciamadrid, Tres Cantos, Becerril de la Sierra, Torrejón de la Calzada, Madrid capital and Parla, as well as Tobarra (Albacete) and Alguazas (Murcia) . Now, after eight months of investigation, the Civil Guard has hunted them down, all accused of theft, fraud and belonging to a criminal group.

It was at an ATM in the town of Rivas, when a 65-year-old woman realized the deception. It was the month of May and that complaint ultimately served to connect this event with others with similar characteristics and thus lead to the identification of those responsible. Two of them selected the victims, people who were elderly or who were alone when it came to withdrawing money. When they were clear about who to approach, the perpetrator of the theft entered the scene, tasked with approaching his prey with the excuse that an operation had been left open.

With the bait launched, the final trick arrived: the unexpected ‘client’ asked to insert the card again and insert his PIN number and thus finish his transaction. A moment of confusion that he took advantage of to exchange cards with that of the victim, previously tricked into removing it. The band had a dozen cards from different banking entities to avoid being discovered in the early stages.

After that, they made numerous cash withdrawals and purchases until the affected person fell into the trap and canceled the card. The perpetrators, precisely, reused the stolen cardboard to chain robberies, to the point of committing several crimes in a single day in different provinces. In the searches carried out at their homes in Manzanares el Real and Madrid, the agents found several reported cards, telephones acquired fraudulently and 1,850 euros in cash. For all these reasons, these magicians of change can only act in the prison commissary.