Police clueless about ATM frauds in Chandigarh
By IANSTuesday, August 24, 2010
CHANDIGARH - Police have failed to achieve any breakthrough in seven cases of fraudulent withdrawal of money from various State Bank of India (SBI) automated teller machines (ATMs) in Chandigarh since Aug 19.
The cyber crime investigation department of police has received at least seven complaints related to illegal withdrawals of over Rs.320,000, allegedly using cloned ATM cards.
In all the cases, the complainants alleged that when the money was withdrawn from their accounts, the ATM cards were with them.
“This is the handiwork of a well-organised gang. We have gathered some vital clues and very soon we will arrest the accused,” Deputy Superintendent of Police (Crime) Satbir Singh told IANS Tuesday.
Police were scrutinizing footage of the CCTV cameras at the ATMs and preparing sketches of the suspects, he said.
“During our investigation, we have also found many loopholes in the working of SBI’s ATMs. There were no security guards to keep an eye on the miscreants and CCTV cameras were also of poor quality and were installed at wrong places,” said Singh.
Police sources said that in one of the captured footage, the accused had put a cloth over the CCTV camera, before committing the crime.
Talking about the modus operandi of the accused, a police official said: “The miscreants might have cloned the original ATM cards by placing a card-reader in the slot of the machine. They might have got the password by placing a micro-camera somewhere near the ATM machine.”
“We suspect that they might have cloned more ATM cards and could try to rob more people of their money,” he added.
Police are also not denying the possibility of the involvement of SBI officials in the crime. A list of questions has been sent to bank officials.
SBI officials have appealed to customers to remain cautious and change their PIN (permanent identification number) frequently to prevent such frauds.
Last month, police arrested a group of miscreants who withdrew Rs.300,000 from accounts of different people by using cloned ATM cards.
