Massive counterfeit bankcard lab discovered in Sunnyside
A 46-year-old Nigerian national was arrested after police discovered sophisticated counterfeit bankcards manufacturing and cloning equipment in Sunnyside on Wednesday.
Police closed down a massive laboratory used to manufacture counterfeit bankcards in Sunnyside on Wednesday afternoon.
A number of imported sophisticated machines which had been used to create counterfeit bankcards were confiscated.
Police investigations revealed that counterfeit bankcards which were manufactured by the equipment are identical to the original bankcards.
A 46-year-old Nigerian national who is believe to be the mastermind behind defrauding bank clients was arrested on the scene after police received a tip off from members of the public.
The man was found in possession of the equipment.
According to police the man was operating the laboratory from his flat on the corner of Walker and Troye streets.
The police confiscated equipment which included a tipper, embosser, ATM card slot, laptop, card printer and over 400 white plastic cards.
Sunnyside Police spokesperson Sergeant Asnath Malatsi said the equipment were used to manufacture bankcards for any bank.
The criminals create cards of any bank from a computer and print them.
“The criminals use sophisticated software templates to manufacture any bankcards,” she said.
Police are still going to take some of the confiscated items to the lab to establish what are they used for.
This include a printer which was the first of it’s kind found in the country.
Malatsi praised the police for acting swiftly to stop crime and highlighted that the success would avoid thousands of fraud cases in the future.
The man is expected to appear in the Commercial Crime Court in Pretoria central soon on charges of the fraud electronic communication transaction act.
The Hawks will investigate the case.
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