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| ATM card clone case: Crooks reveal tricks of trade to cops |
RANCHI: A team of cyber experts, based in Bangalore and Kolkata, is cloning debit cards to withdraw money unlawfully from the ATM.
Police sources said "engineers" behind the scene provide technical know-how as to how can one duplicate ATM cards and use stolen PIN numbers to withdraw bucks.
Three cyber criminals, brought from Bangalore on transit remand on Friday, have revealed to the cops here about a fake ATM card racket that operates all across the country. On a two-day police remand the trio, accused of unlawfully withdrawing crores of rupees via dubious ATM cards in Ranchi last year, is being interrogated by cyber experts and district police.
Ranchi SSP Saket Kumar Singh said the criminals have made important revelations that police would use to crack other cases too. "The investigation is still on," said the SSP.
Varun Kamal Kumar from Hyderabad, Ajay Lal Mathur from Delhi, and Jamir Sheikh from Mumbai have confessed to the crime. They are also wanted by cops in Bangalore, Hyderabad, and other cities for unlawfully withdrawing money from the bank accounts of gullible people.
The criminals use unique methods to swindle money from people. They put up car polish selling counters by the roadside in Ranchi in June 2011. At the shops, local workers were hired to sale the car polish lotions at a discount. It drew crowds of car owners and as they did not have immediate cash, the fraudsters made them swipe ATM cards to purchase the polish. The special machines used to swipe the ATM cards were able to copy data and PIN numbers.
Jagannathpur police inspector Arvind Chaudhary said that the criminals have confessed that they used to send the data and PIN to their masterminds in Kolkata and Bangalore. "The crooks used to duplicate ATM cards with the information they received and withdrew money," said Chaudhary.
Sources in the police informed that similar cases were recorded in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and other cities as well. Cases of unlawful withdrawal were reported from an ATM in Jagannathpur locality on June 19 last year. Cash was also withdrawn on June 18 from a bank's ATM in Doranda locality. Following the incident, several FIRs were lodged with Jagannathpur, Doranda and Argora police stations.
"All the previous cases are being reviewed and the criminals are being interrogated accordingly," said Ranchi SP (city) Vipul Shukla.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand police is set to conduct a daylong workshop on cyber defence at DPS Ranchi campus on Tuesday. "It is an initiative to sensitize the students about cyber defence. Today the world can't run without computers and internet. Thus the risks of security have also gone up," said Shukla.
"The workshop, which is being organized in association with NIIT, will be held in other parts of the state later."
Source: Times of India.
