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MODUS OPERANDI
* According to bank's chief manager, accused rigged ATM machine
* Gained unauthorised access to the card details and PIN
* Details of cards used to carry out various transactions
* 39 different customers of the bank lose Rs 6.51 lakh
* Pinhole camera used to record the PIN, says the police
* All data from the magnetic field copied on a 'skimmer'
* Operations took place at night to make many withdrawals
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PANAJI: ATM cards could get you instant cash from machines, but beware, there are risks involved at times.
According to the chief manager of Dena Bank, unknown persons have gained unauthorised access to the ATM card details of around 39 people and have managed to withdraw cash to the tune of Rs 6.51 lakh.
Cyber Crime police station on Wednesday registered a complaint to that effect and offence has been registered under Section 66 of Information Technology Act, 2000.
Chief Manager of Dena Bank in his complaint stated that the accused rigged the ATM machine of Dena Bank located at Indraprastha on Dr Shirgaoker road in Panaji to gain unauthorised access to the card details and personal identification number (PIN) of those who used their cards in this ATM machine over the last month or so. The details were further used to make various transactions thereby causing loss to 39 different customers to the tune of Rs 6.51 lakh.
While Speaking to the media Superintendent of Police (Crime), Karthik Kashyap stated, “Some of the people who faced losses approached the police, after which we informed the bank. Prima facie it appears that the accused is a foreigner. He used a pinhole camera to record the pin code of ATM users. Likewise, the unknown accused placed a ‘skimmer’ where the ATM card is inserted and copied all the data from the magnetic field.”
A skimmer is a card reader that grabs the data of an ATM card's data magnetic strip as it is swiped.
The accused operated at night and withdrew amounts ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 from ATMs located around Panaji, Porvorim and nearby areas.
Police are in the process of gathering the CCTV footages from various banks having ATMs in the vicinity of these areas in order to ascertain the identity of the accused. PI Cyber Crime Rajesh Job is investigating the case further.
