Indonesian police probe into massive credit fraud

JAKARTA -- Credit card companies and Indonesian authorities said Tuesday they were investigating card counterfeiting estimated by police to have caused more than US$3 billion in losses.

“The estimate up to now is 30 trillion rupiah (US$3.24 billion) in losses, but it could increase as we investigate further,” Indonesian national police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said.

Police are searching for Malaysian national Simon Woon, who is suspected of leading a ring here that produced counterfeit cards using bank customers’ identities.

MasterCard and Visa are working with police, though both declined to put a figure on losses.

“An investigation into a case of data compromise in Indonesia that affects all payment brands is ongoing and the full extent of the compromise is not yet known,” Visa said in a statement.

The company added that none of the identities had been stolen from its database.

MasterCard executive Barry Wong said in a statement sent to AFP it “promptly alerted banks of the account numbers that are potentially compromised.”

Police announced earlier this month the ring was uncovered during a raid related to drugs and gambling in a Jakarta apartment in which forged cards and the materials for making them were found.

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