Seven held for multiple ATM frauds in Delhi-NCR

NOIDA: Seven men have been arrested for allegedly duping several people at ATM kiosks across Delhi-NCR, police said on Thursday. While one of the accused worked as a pickpocket and stole ATM cards from users, two others used to sell the same to two others who were directly engaged in duping ATM users at kiosks located at desolate places and those without guards.
Those arrested have been identified as Abbas alias Rakesh, Mohit, Saurabh, Harendra, Manish, Chandan and Rajiv. Their luck ran out after one of them was caught on the CCTV camera of an ATM near IIM Lucknow’s Noida campus in Sector 62 on Wednesday. And within 24 hours, all the seven were arrested. Police said that Abbas and Mohit are the leaders of the gang, and Saurabh is the brother-in-law of Mohit.
Manish, a pickpocket, would steal purses from commuters and pedestrians, and sold them to Saurabh and Harendra at Rs 400 each. “Saurabh and Harendra were in contact with Abbas and Mohit, who along with Chandan and Rajiv, would dupe genuine bank customers visiting ATM kiosks by exchanging their debit cards with the stolen ones and then withdrawing the money from their accounts,” Sector 58 SHO Anil Kumar said.The accused had a unique modus operandi. The four would visit ATMs at desolate locations and target gullible users like elderlies and those seemingly less educated, and stand right behind them in the ATM queue.
ACP Rajnish Kumar said, “They would first inform the user that the ATM has money and then read the PINs while pretending to help them. Subsequently, they would replace the ATM card with a stolen one. The user would leave the ATM thinking that he is in possession of his own ATM but after a few hours, they would receive messages about money withdrawal.”
The accused had allegedly withdrawn Rs 42,500 from the account of K Rajendran, a resident of Vinayak Apartments in Bhel Cooperative Society of Sector 62, who had visited a local ATM at 7.10 am on October 9.
All of the gang members have criminal history, police said.