Andorra Police Arrest Two in ATM Skimming Bust
Authorities in Andorra la Vella detained two men caught installing skimming devices on an ATM to steal card data and PINs, suspecting ties to an.
Key Points
- Two men, 53 and 37, arrested for installing skimmer and camera on ATM in Andorra la Vella.
- Devices cloned magnetic strips and captured PINs for fake cards or black market sale.
- Suspects linked to organized gang with multi-country records; one ATM confirmed compromised.
- Police advise covering keypads and monitoring statements amid ongoing probe.
Police in Andorra la Vella arrested two non-resident men, aged 53 and 37, on Tuesday for suspected crimes against property, the socioeconomic order, and public order.
The detentions followed a complaint lodged the previous afternoon about tampering with an ATM in the capital. Investigators from the Patrimonial Crimes Group within the Operational Criminal Investigation Unit (UICO) set up special surveillance and caught the suspects in the act early that morning as they attempted to remove the devices.
The men had installed a mechanism inside the machine to clone bank card magnetic strips, along with a hard-to-detect camera positioned over the keypad. This setup allowed it to capture both card data and PIN entries from users—a technique known as skimming. The stolen information can be used to create fake cards or sold on the black market.
Authorities believe the pair belong to an organised criminal gang with prior records across multiple countries. So far, only one ATM has been confirmed as compromised, but police have alerted all banks to check their machines. The probe remains open to determine if any users suffered losses.
In a public advisory, officers urged people to cover the keypad when entering PINs at ATMs or payment terminals, and to regularly review bank statements for signs of fraud.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: