ATM QUEEN. The Iloilo City Police Office on Thursday (March 9, 2023) warns the public from falling victim to the ATM swindling of 40-year-old Lunalyn G. De Pedro dubbed as "ATM queen" by the local police. De Pedro was identified to have victimized an elderly in Iloilo City’s Molo district. (Photo courtesy of ICPO)
ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) is warning the public to be wary of the swindling activity by the so-called “ATM queen” who was able to steal PHP130,000 from an elderly at Molo district last Feb. 25.
“We would like to warn our public who are doing transactions through Automated Teller Machines (ATM), especially our seniors or have no companions who are the potent target of the suspect,” said ICPO spokesperson Major Shella Mae Sangrines in a follow-up interview on Thursday.
She identified the suspect as Lunalyn G. De Pedro, 40, with last known address in Barangay Gustilo in La Paz district.
Sangrines said as per their record, De Pedro has 13 cases of theft, malicious mischief, swindling and violation of the Access Device Regulation Act of 1998 (Credit Card Violation Act) in Iloilo City; Sara town, Iloilo province; Bacolod City; and Lipa City in Batangas province.
The spokesperson added that probably there was somebody who bails her out so she was able to get out of jail.
“She was served with a warrant of arrest by the La Paz Police Station but she posted bail and it took some time, we didn’t have reports of the ATM swindling until this Molo incident,” she said.
The victim was a 62-year-old woman who made a deposit transaction in one of the ATMs in a mall in the Molo district but the machine did not dispense a receipt.
The suspect approached and offered to help, got the card and purportedly inserted it into the machine, thereafter told the victim that it was captured.
However, when the victim went to her depository bank on Feb. 27 she was informed that they have not retrieved a captured card with her name.
Upon checking her account, her PHP130,000 money has been withdrawn in various transaction dates.
De Pedro was identified through the rogue’s gallery of the police station. (PNA)
