Two Romanians, a local arrested for ATM card cloning in Mumbai

The two men have been identified as Miyu Ruchinal, 48, and Budai Romana,36. Police have also recovered ₹60,000 in cash

Kandivali cyber crime unit of Mumbai Police has arrested two Romanian nationals and their local accomplice for allegedly cloning ATM cards and withdrawing money from bank accounts linked with those cards.

Representational Image.

The two men have been identified as Miyu Ruchinal, 48, and Budai Romana,36. Police have also recovered ₹60,000 in cash.

Police said last week, a complainant approached them stating that amount of ₹6.05 lakh had been fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account from an ATM kiosk at Malad.

On scanning CCTV footage of the ATM centre, police saw a local planting a micro camera and a magnetic chip in the machine.

The footage of CCTV cameras led the police to a car which they saw the accomplice board on Saturday. They tracked the vehicle through its registration number plate. They later noticed the vehicle parked outside the South Indian Bank ATM centre. “We entered the ATM centre and saw the accused installing a device used for cloning ATM cards,” said an officer from the cyber crime unit.

The police arrested the accused and recovered a micro camera, magnetic chip, and several ATM cards from him.

The accused confessed to cloning cards and led the police to the foreign nationals who were the masterminds of the racket. Both Ruchinal and Romana have been booked for cheating under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, said an officer.