Two men have been charged over an elaborate $3.75 million international bank-card skimming scheme that led to thousands of Australians being defrauded.

The duo, who police say entered the country on false passports, are accused of being part of an organised crime syndicate based in Romania whose operations span four continents.

They allegedly installed card-skimming devices in ATMs across Sydney to steal money and create fake bank cards.

Police say the men travelled to Australia for the sole purpose of cloning debit cards so they could withdraw funds from local bank accounts.

Detective Inspector Gordon Arbinja said the men were part of a sophisticated and extensive criminal group operating across the US, Europe and Asia.

“This group is vast,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“This group has got their fingerprints all over the area … we’re looking at at least 3500 victims at this stage.”

Detectives arrested the men, aged 40 and 43, after searching a property at Wolli Creek in Sydney’s south on Wednesday.

Officers allegedly found an active skimming device in the process of embedding nearly 1500 blank credit cards that had the potential to hold more than $3.7 million in funds skimmed from ATMs.

Police also located a number of electronic devices allegedly containing a list of thousands of bank details with accompanying PINs, believed to belong to legitimate bank customers.

Det Insp Arbinja said one of the men threw his phone from the 10th-storey apartment’s balcony when officers executed their search warrant, but police were able to retrieve the device from the street below.

A search at a second address in Wolli Creek found $50,000 in cash, electronics, passports, designer handbags, designer shoes and designer watches.

The younger man was charged with nine offences, including knowingly directing the activities of a criminal group, dealing with identity information to commit an indictable offence, and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

The older man was charged with participating in a criminal group contributing to criminal activity, among other offences.

Both were refused bail to appear in Sutherland Local Court on Thursday.

Det Insp Arbinja said the men initially travelled to Australia in November to commit similar offences, before returning on fake passports in March.

Police said they expected to make further arrests.

– AAP