ATM card cloning: Guards were asleep at ATMs, SBI bank’s CCTV footage blurred, finds probe
Investigating officials told HT that probe had found that the criminals spent nearly 45 minutes at various ATMs in Kharar and Mohali on August 3 to withdraw money using cloned cards
Probing the fraudulent transactions through card cloning in Mohali, cyber crime police have found security lapses at ATM vestibules, and poor CCTV footage at SBI ATMs where the accused struck in the past week.
Investigating officials told HT that probe had found that the criminals spent nearly 45 minutes at various ATMs in Kharar and Mohali on August 3 to withdraw money using cloned cards. They were still working on collecting clues from the footage obtained from Zirakpur ATMs.
On Wednesday, the cyber team visited Zirakpur, Kharar, and Mohali’s Phases 1 and 7 to question authorities of various banks and their staff members.
“The cameras installed in the SBI ATMs need to be upgraded as the video quality is poor. These shortcomings are hampering our investigation. At other ATMs, people are allowed to enter ATMs with their caps on, exposing security lapses,” said an official, privy to the matter.
Cyber crime officials are also facing a tough time in extracting information from banks to help build on initial leads. The banks have been slow in providing details about the victims, ATMs, and what the transaction details of customer notify.
Punjab police cyber crime unit has been inundated with complaints of unauthorized card transactions since August 3, with the total amount being duped touching Rs 20 lakh so far.
It all started on August 3, after the cyber cell officials received 11 complaints from ICICI and HDFC bank customers about cash totaling Rs 6 lakh being withdrawn from their accounts.
Four days on, the number of complaints of HDFC customers has risen significantly. HDFC Bank has reported 31 cases of ATM fraud while complaints from PNB and other banks are also being received.
Accused spent 45 minutes at ATMs
Officials probing the matter said accused took their time to withdraw money from the ATMs as they hopped from one vestibule to another.
They said most fraudulent withdrawals on August 3 were done between 4 and 6am.
“The criminals targeted ATMs where the security guards were fast asleep, and spent nearly 45 minutes at the ATM machines in Kharar and Phase 1 area of Mohali. Security guards were clueless, and nobody questioned the people inside the ATM on what are they doing for such a long time,” they added.
The investigators also found that VIP Road in Zirakpur lacked proper street lights, allowing suspicious activity to go unnoticed.