Surat: Unidentified man cheats bank by tampering ATMs

SURAT: A fraudster from the city has tampered with different automatic teller machines (ATM) of a nationalized bank multiple times and successfully makes the machines restart after every withdrawal.
The accused employed a unique modus operandi of inserting his finger in the cash dispenser of the ATM when it opens to dispense the cash. The accused would then collect the cash but as his finger is still inserted, the machine records a technical snag and goes into the restart mode.
Ultimately, the machine recorded the transaction as incomplete even as the amount got debited from the account of the debit card holder every time. Taking advantage of this MO, the accused called the bank's control room and raised a complaint that he did not receive cash even though the amount got deducted from his bank account.
Upon examination, the bank failed to identify the fault and so it deposited the money in the fake complainant's bank account. According to bank's rule, if it is unable to confirm how the balance got deducted from an account, it has to deposit the disputed amount in the complainant's account.
Officials of the State Bank of India lodged similar complaints in Varachha, Mahidharpura, Athwa, Umra and Kadodara police stations about such frauds taking place in the bank's ATMs in their areas.
The total amount of fraud in Varachha and Mahidharpura is Rs 85,000. The police are yet to confirm the amount of fraud in other police station areas. The total amount of fraud is nearly one lakh and the total amount will be declared by the police only after all the fraud incidents are reported.
"The bank officials detected the fault only when they examined the transactions and balance of the ATM. Later, they examined the CCTV footage as well and realized it to be a planned fraud and approached the police," said a police officer.
"We have received the preliminary information of the case from the bank and we are verifying how many such frauds have been carried out so far. It seems the accused is the same and he uses debit cards of his family members to carry his nefarious agenda," said the police.