Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project

May 26, 2020

Report: ATM Skimmer Gang Had Protection from Mexican Attorney General’s Office

This post was originally published on this siteA group of Romanians operating an ATM company in Mexico and suspected of bribing technicians to install sophisticated Bluetooth-based skimmers in cash machines throughout several top Mexican tourist destinations have enjoyed legal protection from a top anti-corruption official in the Mexican attorney general’s office, according to a new complaint filed with the government’s internal affairs division. As detailed this week by the Mexican daily Reforma, several Mexican federal, state and municipal officers filed a complaint saying the attorney general office responsible for combating corruption had initiated formal proceedings against them for investigating Romanians […]

June 3, 2020

Romanian Skimmer Gang in Mexico Outed by KrebsOnSecurity Stole $1.2 Billion

This post was originally published on this siteAn exhaustive inquiry published today by a consortium of investigative journalists says a three-part series KrebsOnSecurity published in 2015 on a Romanian ATM skimming gang operating in Mexico’s top tourist destinations disrupted their highly profitable business, which raked in an estimated $1.2 billion and enjoyed the protection of top Mexican authorities. The multimedia investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and several international journalism partners detailed the activities of the so-called Riviera Maya crime gang, allegedly a mafia-like group of Romanians who until very recently ran their own ATM company […]

October 7, 2020

Promising Infusions of Cash, Fake Investor John Bernard Walked Away With $30M

This post was originally published on this siteSeptember featured two stories on a phony tech investor named John Bernard, a pseudonym used by a convicted thief named John Clifton Davies who’s fleeced dozens of technology companies out of an estimated $30 million with the promise of lucrative investments. Those stories prompted a flood of tips from Davies’ victims that paint a much clearer picture of this serial con man and his cohorts, including allegations of hacking, smuggling, bank fraud and murder. KrebsOnSecurity interviewed more than a dozen of Davies’ victims over the past five years, none of whom wished to […]

February 19, 2021

Mexican Politician Removed Over Alleged Ties to Romanian ATM Skimmer Gang

This post was originally published on this siteThe leader of Mexico’s Green Party has been removed from office following allegations that he received money from a Romanian ATM skimmer gang that stole hundreds of millions of dollars from tourists visiting Mexico’s top tourist destinations over the past five years. The scandal is the latest fallout stemming from a three-part investigation into the organized crime group by KrebsOnSecurity in 2015. One of the Bluetooth-enabled PIN pads pulled from a compromised ATM in Mexico. The two components on the left are legitimate parts of the machine. The fake PIN pad made to […]