Faridabad: Two held for installing card skimming device at ATMs
The Faridabad police on Monday arrested two men for allegedly installing a skimming device and duplicate keypad at more than 30 ATMs in different cities, including Faridabad, Gurugram, and Kolkata
The Faridabad police on Monday arrested two men for allegedly installing a skimming device and duplicate keypad at more than 30 ATMs in different cities, including Faridabad, Gurugram, and Kolkata. Police have also recovered about ₹3.20 lakh from their possession.
The suspects were identified as Amit Kumar and Manoj Kumar from Fatehpur Beri in Delhi, who have been jailed several times for ATM fraud, police said, adding that they had formed a gang in April this year with the help of an Uzbekistan national, identified as John Philo Azim, who had taught them tricks to take out money from ATMs using such devices.
Narender Kadiyan, deputy commissioner of police (crime), said that the suspects had taken out cash from an ATM at Mujesar Gate last week and a case was registered against them. They were arrested from Sector 9 crossing on Monday night while they were trying to target another ATM in the area, he said.
“There are six members in the gang. The two other gang members, including Azim, were earlier arrested in April from Heili Mandi in Gurugram and Delhi, and are lodged in Faridabad jail,” Kadiyan said, adding that the remaining two are still at large.
Police said that Manoj had met Azim last year in a Kolkata jail.
Kadiyan said Azim was arrested on charges of fraud and theft in several states. “They both came out on bail and formed a gang and started visiting ATMs in different states. “We received several complaints from across the city where money was withdrawn from ATMs through cloned cards,” he said.
Police said a team started analysing the CCTV footage from different ATMs and found that two men were tampering with the machine. On Monday, the police team saw two men entering an ATM with covered faces and kept a close watch on them. “When they did not come out for 10 minutes, two policemen went inside and caught them red-handed,” said Kadiyan.
The suspects used to surf the internet to know the latest modus operandi, said police.
During interrogation, the suspects revealed that they used to install a data skimmer in the opening of ATM machine where the card is inserted to clone debit card details. They used to place a duplicate keypad on the original which used to help them copy PIN numbers. “They used to replicate the stolen data on gift cards having metallic stripe using a software and card cloning device. The cloned cards were then used to withdraw money,” said Kadiyan.
