11 victims come forward as fraudsters strike at least two ATMs in the Agripada-Byculla area through glue and extra cameras to steal data and withdraw money
Most of the complainants have said that before the fraud, they had last withdrawn money from the SBI ATM near HP petrol pump at the Nair Hospital junction. Pic/Atul Kamble
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An estimated 3.2 million debit cards from multiple banks were compromised not more than a fortnight ago in a huge data breach. A similar fraud has struck again, only this time, in at least two busy ATM machines in Central Mumbai.
At least two ATM machines in the Agripada-Byculla area — one near Nair Hospital and one on Jacob Circle — were compromised recently and customers’ data was stolen using skimmers. With the stolen data, the gang is believed to have cloned cards belonging dozens of people and withdrawn their money in Mumbai, Thane and Gujarat.
Victims may rise
So far, 11 people have approached the police and five FIRs have been registered at the Agripada police station. The latest FIR was registered on October 29. The numbers may increase in the future. Investigators say that the other victims might have lodged cases with respective police stations in their area, but cops will only come to know about those once the bank provides information on the compromised cards.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 3), Pravin Padwal, confirmed the development and said, “The investigation of the cases is on and we are confident of catching the culprits.”
‘Gluing’ the fraud
A police source said that most of the complainants, which includes, doctors, teachers, housewives and businessmen, told the investigators in their statements that before the fraud, they had last withdrawn money from the SBI ATM near HP petrol pump at the Nair Hospital junction, which is a busy ATM kiosk. When police visited the kiosk, they found glue on the card slot, the source said.
“With the help of glue, the gang members fitted skimmer devices to the ATM machines and stole people’s card data. To copy the PIN, they had fitted hidden cameras on the ceiling exactly over the keypad. Later, they cloned the cards with the stolen data and PIN and then withdrew money on three different days in different cities,” said an officer from the Agripada police station.
Pro gang at work?
Another police officer said that the gang is professional one as they planned the fraud well in advance. They had chosen to strike during long bank holidays, to ensure that customers do not get SMS alerts or alert from the fraud-detecting cell of the banks, since the maximum withdrawal limit on a card is generally R40,000. “Information the victims collected on the disputed transactions from the banks shows that their money was withdrawn through cloned cards from ATM kiosks at Baroda in Gujarat, Kamothe in Thane, and Andheri. Most of the people got SMS alerts on October 22,” an officer said.
No CCTV footage yet
While cops have written to the concerned banks for details of the fraudulent transactions, investigators are awaiting CCTV footage from the Agripada ATM, which could help nail the accused. Apart from this one more ATM kiosk is believed to have been compromised. The police have registered cases under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Information Technology (IT) Act for cheating and impersonation.
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