On Tuesday, a 23-year-old cab driver from Delhi was arrested by the city police with his associate, both are accused of robbing money from ATMs which are not guarded by security guards.
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How Did This Happen?
As per the information provided by police, the accused is, in fact, a genius who has developed a technique to withdraw cash from the account without making any deductions.
While talking about their modus operandi, inspector Mohammed Mukarram, said the accused, after identifying a vulnerable kiosk, would first block the CCTV cameras by turning them away from the machine.
Then they would use a valid ATM card to withdraw cash, which is mostly a couple of thousands of rupees.
After getting the cash, one of the men would hold on to the notes without taking them out for a few seconds.
“This would trigger a message that there was a fault with the machine. Meanwhile, his partner, who had surveyed the ATM kiosk earlier, would switch off the power supply. Only then, would the man holding the cash withdraw the amount,” added Mr. Mukarram.
As the transaction was halted during the process of dispensation, the amount being debited would not reflect in the account.
So the balance didn’t got decreased ever, which in turn causing a loss to the bank concerned instead.
How Much Damage Reported?
Giving more information about the accused Mr. Mukarram said “The accused planned the operation meticulously. Using this technique, the accused have duped many banks worth several lakhs,”.
On top of that, the duo would inform the customer care center by calling and raising a complaint about the faulty ATM machine.
How Did Police Catch Them?
This scam came into picture when a bank branch manager noticed that the CCTVs had been turned away from their actual focal point while visiting a kiosk in Yeswanthpur.
While talking about the operation, Mr. Mukarram said that a team of police in plainclothes kept watch on the ATM, and caught the duo red-handed on Saturday.
The accused basically belongs to Haryana, where Shahzad, 24, and his associate Shahid, 28, moved to New Delhi and they allegedly committed a series of ATMs frauds there.
They informed “after the police stepped up the security in the capital, they moved to other metros and arrived in Bengaluru in August. Since then, they have been moving around the city identifying ATMs without security guards.” (Reference)
“They confessed that they have asked family members friends and relatives to open bank accounts mostly in nationalized banks and borrowed their debit cards. They lived lavishly, flying to various cities and staying in hotels,” added a senior police officer.
What Will Happen Next?
Currently, they are under police custody and efforts are on to track down two of their associates who are on the run.
A senior police official said, “such incidents highlight the urgency for banks to ensure that their kiosks are manned by security personnel round the clock,”.
During the same time, in the last three days, three more skimming cases have been lodged in Parappana Agrahara police station while in Channammanakere Acchaka, some unidentified damaged an ATM in an attempt to break into it.
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