MEDIA ReLEASE

1 MAY 2012

More suspected skimmers caught by Immigration

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and the New Zealand Customs Service have stopped two more suspected card skimmers from coming to New Zealand.

Acting Head of Immigration Steve McGill says the men were intercepted when they arrived in Auckland on a flight from Guangzhou after officials at the border were alerted by INZ profiling experts.

On arrival, the two men, a Bulgarian and a Romanian, had their belongings searched by Customs who located electronic equipment which was detained for further investigation.

“The men could give no valid reason for coming to New Zealand,” Mr McGill says. “They had limited knowledge of New Zealand and did not know the location of the attractions they supposedly wanted to visit.

“Given the information we had about these men and the fact they could not provide a satisfactory explanation for their reasons for coming to New Zealand, we denied them entry and they returned to Guangzhou,” Mr McGill says.

“This is a good example of INZ and Customs working together to prevent people with questionable motives coming into the country and taking part in criminal activity.”

Earlier this month INZ stopped nine suspected Bulgarian card skimmers from entering the country.

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