Three Romanian nationals held for ATM fraud in Pune

The Chatuhshrungi police in Pune on Friday arrested three Romanian nationals for allegedly cloning ATM cards and withdrawing money from 138 bank accounts. The trio stole details of 1,030 cards by installing 'skimmers' in an ATM and withdrew nearly Rs 28 lakh, police said.

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Erima Dragos Junete (26), Lazar Alim Christi (22) and Balan Floria Christinel (44) were arrested from Vasai. Police suspect that they are part of a bigger international racket. Police also seized 54 ATM cards, a skimmer, two laptops, three mobile phones and Rs 2.44 lakh. They installed the skimmer -- a gadget that can read and copy details of debit or credit cards -- at an ATM of Punjab National Bank in Pashan Circle area in October and stole details of cards used there, said a senior police officer.

Police started investigation after the bank received several complaints of money being withdrawn without account-holders' knowledge. The trio first withdrew money from Bengaluru. "When our team reached Bengaluru on December 17, we found the fraudsters had shifted their base to Vasai. We sent a team to Vasai and nabbed them," the officer said.