Four Bulgarians Arrested in Canada For ATM Fraud

The Quebec provincial police arrested on Thursday four Canadian citizens of Bulgarian origin for alleged ATM fraud. 

Their names are Vassilina Dimitrova, 48, Borislav Petrov, 53, Iren Vasilev Atanasov, 42 and the alleged ringleader Martin Antonov Kuzov, 52.

The arrests took place near Montreal and Toronto. Four other suspects are still on the loose. 

The four people still being sought are Konstantin Sirakov, 39 and Stefan Stefanov, 45, of Toronto. Two other men, Vencislav Gigov, 53, and Valentin Borisov, 51, are from North York.

According to the CTV News website, the fraud ring stole more than CAD 1 M from unsuspecting cardholders. 

The ATMs were usually rigged in broad daylight as people conducted their banking business.

Police said the accused installed card cloning equipment in more than 200 ATM machines in Quebec and Ontario over the years, with cameras hidden in the rigged ATMs to capture pin numbers.

The fraud network members had to come by every two hours - the lifespan of the batteries and illicit gear being used - to collect the equipment and card data.

The information was then used to make large cash withdrawals abroad, particularly in places where the safer chip technology is not yet prevalent such as Mexico and Asia.

Police said their investigation had been going on for a few months, but the fraudulent activities began in 2008.