Brazilian visitor admits credit card fraud

A Brazilian man who claimed an associate helped him forge bank cards using an electronic "cloning" device, then "skimmed" PIN numbers to steal $4700 from automatic teller machines in Dunedin and Queenstown, has been convicted on six counts of fraud.

Marcelo De Silva Araujo (39), a partner in a Queenstown business, was living in the resort on a valid work permit when he was arrested after police found several suspicious credit cards disabled in Queenstown ATMs.

Araujo pleaded guilty to the charges yesterday at Queenstown District Court.

Specific details about locations of the frauds were suppressed by Judge Dominic Flatley after police prosecutor Sergeant Ian Collin said identifying the premises where the crimes took place would be "unfair" to businesses and employers.

Cloning transfers electronic data from an original credit card to a blank card, allowing a forgery of the original to be created.

The police summary said Araujo went to Dunedin on October 10 "with a number of forged credit cards" and withdrew $3200 from one victim's account.

On October 27, police reviewed security camera footage identifying Araujo and arrested him after executing a search warrant.

He admitted using the cards in Dunedin and Queenstown and said they were supplied by an associate who was a Queenstown hospitality worker.

The associate was able to get access to victims' personal banking details using an electronic swipe device.

The details were then cloned on to blank cards.

The defendant saw the offending as an easy way to get money and "believed it was a victimless crime, as the banks reimbursed the account holders for the money", the summary stated.

Police have not yet found the associate, who is thought to have returned to Brazil.

Immigration New Zealand has confiscated Araujo's passport.

Despite police opposition, Judge Flatley remanded him at large to appear for sentencing on January 17.