According to local press reports, police raided 38 locations in Craiova, six in Bucharest and three in a neighbouring county.

Those detained face accusations of being members of an organised crime group, unauthorised access to a computer system, possessing card-cloning equipment, access device fraud and distributing fake electronic-payment devices.

The skimmers were either sold to other criminal gangs or used by ring members in Italy, Germany, Sweden and Romania, say authorities.

Meanwhile, reports also claim that the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism has arrested five fraudsters allegedly part of a card cloning gang.