THREE men have been arrested inside a Costa Blanca supermarket for stealing bank cards from elderly people and making multiple ATM withdrawals of over €3,000 from a single card.
The trio travelled around Spain- striking in the Alicante, Granada, Malaga and Murcia areas.
One of the crew had been previously arrested over 100 times for similar offences.
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A judge ordered the men into pre-trial custody after they were charged with numerous counts of fraud and theft.
The thieves were detained in a Santa Pola store as they were about to pounce on their latest victim.
Investigations started in the Cartagena area of Murcia in December when several similar offences were reported to authorities.
A Policia Nacional spokesperson said: “The perpetrators used distraction techniques with elderly people to snatch their wallets containing cash and bank cards.”
The trio acted in an organised and coordinated manner to select mainly elderly victims who were withdrawing money from a bank ATM or paying for items with a card in a store.
One of the men would distract a target by telling them that they had dropped something or by just asking for help.
A colleague would then snatch their wallet or bank card.
The group would have beforehand stood next to their target to make a note of the PIN number typed into an ATM or card machine.
Armed with the stolen card, they would make small purchases and multiple withdrawals at low values so as not to go over any limits and to avoid attention from banks.
They even accessed online banking apps to carry out fraudulent transactions.
The Policia Nacional has appealed for people to remain vigilant in public and crowded places.
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