MOTÖRHEAD Drummer's Wallet Stolen Following Hometown Concert

According to the Swedish daily newspaper Expressen, MOTÖRHEAD drummer Mikkey Dee had his wallet stolen after a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden last Friday (Oct. 7). The thieves were able to withdraw 10,000 Swedish kronor (approximately $1,285) before Dee's girlfriend Mia noticed that the wallet was missing.

"It felt horribly unpleasant," Mikkey said.

After the concert, Mikkey Dee and his girlfriend went to the Hard Rock Café in Gothenburg for a late-night dinner. There Mia suddenly discovered that the wallet was missing from her purse.

"We immediately went to a nearby hotel to have all the credit cards cancelled, but it was already too late," Dee told Expressen.

Through five quick withdrawals of 2,000 kronor each, the thieves were able to withdraw a total of 10,000 Swedish kronor despite not having access to Dee's credit card PIN number.

"Obviously they were professionals who knew how to do this," Dee said. "Even if the bank reimburses us for the stolen funds, it makes you feel lousy.

"Someone at the restaurant had seen a woman standing behind Mia's chair and she quickly passed something onto a male friend of hers who quickly left the scene.

"We'll have to view this as a wake-up call. But it's annoying that it happened on my home turf."

Mikkey Dee lives in a house in Fiskebäck with his girlfriend Mia and his sons, Max, 10, and Marcus, 3.

An expert on credit-card skimming, Per-Arne Nilsson, says that in certain cases the information contained in the credit card's magnetic strip may include the personal PIN number.

"There are criminals out there that are skillful enough to be able to decrypt the information contained on a credit card magnetic strip and obtain the PIN code," Nilsson said.

In the year 2003, more than half a billion dollars was reportedly stolen through credit card fraud worldwide.

(Thanks: Johan Classon)