Members of a gang which used ATM spy cameras and skimmers to steal the card details of 36,000 people across the UK have been jailed.
Romanian nationals Florin Silaghi, Vasile Pop, Ovidiu Metac and Adriana Turc were picked up after the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU) raided properties across north London in December.
The raids uncovered "dedicated factories" manufacturing skimmers as well as spy cameras which, in what police call a UK first, were designed to be fitted to the side panels, rather than top panels, of ATMs, providing a better view as victims entered their PINs.
Officers also found cloned cards, many of them with stolen PINs written on them in black market pen. Based on the average amount stolen from a compromised card, the recovered haul had a street value of £16 million.
The four pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and various other charges. Silaghi was sentenced to five years and four months in prison, Pop to five years and one month, Metac to three years and seven months, and Turc one year and nine months.
DI Sarah Ward, DCPCU, says: "We are delighted that with these arrests and convictions we have been able to completely dismantle a criminal organisation that was stealing millions from people's bank accounts. The premises we raided really were a fraudster's utopia, with a dizzying array of machines and gadgets designed to commit serious fraud."