ATM Skimming: Two Chinese men arrested in Pakistan

Two Chinese nationals were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly involving in ATM skimming fraud in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, officials said.

The arrested foreigners were seen suspiciously doing rounds of ATM booths on Karachi's Abdullah Haroon Road.

Local shop-keepers stopped the duo and handed them over to police, Geo TV reported.

Officials also confirmed that the two foreigners have been involved in ATM skimming, it said.

"We have recovered ATM skimming devices from both the suspects," Superintendent of Police Saddar Tauqeer Naeem said.

"They had come to detach skimming devices from the ATM machines," Naeem added.

In March last year, two Chinese nationals were arrested by a Pakistani law enforcement agency for ATM skimming fraud, Dawn newspaper reported.

Fraudsters use different techniques to steal a person's debit card PIN code for accessing the money in an account.

Pakistan has witnessed a rapid increase of Chinese nationals in the country in recent years due to many Beijing- funded infrastructure development projects and joint ventures under the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Some Chinese expatriates, however, have been found involved in criminal activities such as fighting and fraud, Pakistani media reports said in December.

The matter was discussed at a joint working group meeting of the home department of Punjab province and a senior Chinese diplomat in the country in December.