The accused would steal data from ATM kiosks (Representational Image) With the recent arrest of three persons, the Dahisar police have claimed to have busted a cyber fraud racket as part of which the accused would steal data from ATM kiosks, get clone debit cards made, procure swipe machines from banks on the basis of a fake company they had set up to carry out the fraud, and transfer money into their own bank accounts.
This is the second recent case in Mumbai of fraudsters misusing swipe machines issued by banks to traders for carrying out their business activities.
The accused in the latest case have been identified as Akil Shaikh, 48, Raghvendra Shetty, 35, and Dipak Karande, 41, said Anil Avhad, senior police inspector of Dahisar police station.
Shaikh told police he used to work as an engineer and Shetty as a hotel manager.
Police said the duo had been stealing card data and pin numbers from ATM kiosks in Mumbai using skimmers and micro cameras for the past three months. They would then get clone cards made and use them on a swiping machine to transfer money into a bank account, they added.
Police said the third accused, Karande, floated a fake company named “The Star” for the purpose and opened its account in Kolkata in a leading private sector bank. The bank issued him a swipe machine, which the three accused would use to transfer the money from the clone cards to a bank account in Kolkata, police said. The money was then transferred to another private bank account, opened using forged documents, in Nashik from where the fraudsters would withdraw the money, police said. Till now, the gang has duped several people of Rs 8 lakh.
“They were arrested on Monday and have been remanded to police custody till June 28. We have taken suo motu action, acting on a tip off,” said detection officer, assistant police inspector Om Totavar. Police seized 40 clone cards, 250 blank cards used for cloning, a swipe machine, a laptop and three mobile phones from them. Earlier this month, police arrested a petrol pump owner who, for a commission from cyber fraudsters, used the swiping machine on his premises to swindle money obtained from illegal activities.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
