Sydney couple jailed for $36k card reader scam

Two people will likely be deported after being caught running a scam putting card-reading devices into the card slots of ATMs.

A pair of fraudsters will likely be deported once they have finished prison sentences for putting dodgy card reading devices into ATMs in Melbourne and Sydney.

The Romanian nationals, a man aged 34 and a 33-year-old woman both living in Sydney, were sentenced to prison in NSW on Friday for their $36,000 scam.

They put thin pieces of metal – called shimmers – into ATM card readers to steal the card information.

A shimming device police found at the pair’s Sydney home. Picture: Australian Federal Police

When police raided their house in the Sydney suburb of Rhodes they found $12,900 cash, shimming devices, false identity documents, card readers and SIM cards.

Australian Federal Police were tipped off by US authorities about a shipment of shimmers headed for Australia, and police here identified packages containing the devices arriving from the UK, China and the US.

Here the 34-year-old man puts a shimming device into an ATM. Picture: Australian Federal Police

They installed the devices together. Picture: Australian Federal Police

The male Romanian national admitted seven charges related to personal information and travel document fraud and dealing with the proceeds of crime. He was sentenced to four years and two months’ prison, and will have to serve 2½ years before he’s eligible for parole.

The woman pleaded guilty to four similar charges. She was sentenced to two years and six months in prison but will be eligible for parole in February.

The sentences were handed down in the Campbelltown District Court on Friday, the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

Police seized cash, shimming devices, and fake documents when they swooped. Picture: Australian Federal Police

The female scammer was sentenced to a non-parole period of one year and six months. Picture: Australian Federal Police

Police surveilled the couple and saw them putting the devices on ATMs in Melbourne and Sydney and going to banks to withdraw and transfer money using the stolen card data.

The shimming devices need to be retrieved for a criminal to retrieve the stolen card data.

The man and woman will likely be deported once they have finished their sentences.

AFP Detective Superintendent Tim Stainton said “no matter where you are, your criminal actions can always be traced, and the AFP will not hesitate to bring you before the courts”.

“Criminals will unashamedly use any tools they have available to exploit people for their own greedy profit, at the expense of Australians who are already doing it tough.”

Card skimmers read the magnetic strip of a bank card, whereas shimmers read the microchip.

Originally published as Sydney couple jailed for $36k card reader scam