Expat ATM scammers arrested in Phuket

Yesterday, Thai Immigration said that an Australian man and British man on the popular holiday island of Phuket worked together in order to skim cash from ATMs.

At the immigration media conference, it was reported that Jamie Steven McKee, aged 31 and from the UK planned with his Australian friend, Darrin John Williams, 48, to defraud bank customers in Phuket.

There have been multiple skimming attacks on ATMs by expats in Phuket and Thai banks are now improving the security of the machines.

On Wednesday, the pair were arrested near a ATM belonging to a Thai Commercial Bank at 11pm in Karon, south of Patong.

According to an immigration officer, the pair were found with a machine to copy bank account details, 40 fake credit cards and 20,000 Thai Baht in cash.

It is thought that the data regarding credit cards was flown into Thailand on March 14 by Mr McKee.

His Australian friend, Mr Williams, arrived in Thailand overland at the Ranong checkpoint which was considered unusual by police.

Immigration police said that the pair lived in rented properties in Patong and attacked ATMs in Karon in order to avoid drawing unwanted attention to themselves. Both men have confessed to their crimes.

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