Chinese scammers arrested for slot machine fraud

Some Chinese nationals are currently in the grips of the police in Madrid for their involvement in slot machine fraud.

A report by Spanish newspaper El Mundo indicates the suspects used fake €5 notes to manipulate the slot machines into cashing out €50 notes.

The modus operandi of these scammers involve first cutting the €5 note into a vertical half and then taping the two halves together but leaving a small two or three millimetre gap in between them.

The altered note is inserted into the currency slot of the gambling machine but the machine returns it as unacceptable.

After the rejection, the culprits reinsert the altered note several other times, after which, the account balance of the machine suddenly change to read €50. The reason for the balance appearing wrong is unclear.

As soon as the balance increases, the scammers then requested the withdrawal of the full €50 balance, which the machine granted. The scammers then move to the next electronic machine and repeat the same process.

The Madrid police have cautioned gambling hall and bar operators within the area to be on the lookout for potential scammers and to check their gaming machines for the altered notes.

It is currently not clear whether these scammers are targeting a particular make or model of the gambling machine or the procedure works on all types of games.

For now, the machines shown in a video by El Mundo include Ultra Stack Feature Panda by Aruze Gaming and Merkur’s Tropical Heat.