
From top, left to right, Nikolai Arabov, 37, Denislav Filipov, 19, Diyan Dobrev, 34, and Stanimir Kolev, 36, have been arrested over alaborate ATM thefts. Photo by miamiherald.com
Four Bulgarian nationals have been nabbed in Miami over hijacking ATMs and stealing at least 2 million dollars using tiny cameras and card readers.
Nikolai Arabov, 37; Stanimir Kolev, 36; Diyan Dobrev, 34 and Denislav Filipov, 19 all face charges involving grand theft, criminal use of personal identification and credit-card fraud, the Miami Herald reported.
''It was very satisfying,'' said the Miami Beach police detective who led six undercover colleagues in tracking down and arresting the four men, who are now in the Miami-Dade County Jail.
Authorities said they've been trying to catch the criminals for two years but managed to do so in the last few weeks after several area banks reported to Miami Beach police that customers complained about money being taken from their accounts.
The quartet used tiny cameras installed on ATM machines that recorded the victim's PIN number and devices that collected the account numbers. The Bulgarians then reprogrammed retail-store gift cards with the information to withdraw cash.
Police said that all four men were in the United States legally, on legitimate visas.