Credit card fraudster caught with 48 forged cards
An international gang of credit card fraudsters targeted Qatar and sent a man with 48 forged cards to purchase expensive items, local daily The Peninsula reported.
A criminal court sentenced the Malaysian to three years in jail and fined him QR20,000 for using forged cards. The court also ordered his deportation once he completes his jail term.
The culprit was caught red-handed at Duty Free at Hamad International airport when he tried to purchase expensive watches worth more than QR180,000 through forged cards.
A local bank raised an alert about a suspected credit card transaction. Following the tip-off, police rushed to the site and caught him.
The Malaysian had bought three watches of Rolex company valued at QR182,875 at Duty Free, Al Raya reports.
During his stay in Qatar, the convict made several purchases, including expensive watches and pens and paid his hotel bills through forged cards.
He bought two watches worth QR3,800 and pens worth QR1,000 from the hotel he stayed, and paid hotel bill QR850 for one day.
The convict admitted to using 20 forged cards but only three were accepted. Justifying his fraud, he said he was a victim of a gang operating in Malaysia.
"I have financial problems and huge bank loans. They promised me to help repay the loans if I went abroad to purchase expensive watches of only Rolex company and they gave me three months," he said.
He also admitted that before landing in Doha, he had visited several countries, including Malta and Japan, but their foolproof systems did not accept forged cards.
QLers: Qatar's security system still seems vulnerable to international and local fraudulent activities. What do you think should be done to stop this?
@ ianmanish, i second the motion
Qatar should learn from Malta and Japan how they made their systems foolproof and the same technique should be applied in Qatar too - this will make Qatar a safe place in terms of Credit Card use.