A man in his 40s deceived haulage companies and petrol stations out of half a million kronor. By installing equipment that reads payment card information, he was able to capture the drivers' card details when they refueled.
The man is now being prosecuted at Uddevalla District Court for, among other things, fraud, aggravated forgery, and use of a false document.
The man has traveled to various petrol stations, including in Bohuslän, Skåne, Östergötland, Småland, and Norway, and installed so-called skimming equipment. This is a technique that reads the information and code on payment cards.
He then used the stolen information to create copies of the cards and, in this way, obtained large quantities of fuel without paying. He has used the fake cards at least 25 times. The crimes were committed during the first half of the year.
It is likely that the man has sold the petrol further. On one occasion, he filled up 400 liters and returned 50 minutes later to fill up another 400 liters in the same truck.
You have to drive very fast to fill up 400 liters in 50 minutes, says prosecutor Per-Erik Rinsel, to Strömstads Tidning.
It was the petrol company that alerted the police, and eventually, the man could be arrested. The prosecutor does not believe that the man acted alone, but had accomplices. They have not yet been identified. The prosecutor is demanding that the man be deported from the country.
