Four held for duping people by swapping ATM cards

Noida: Four men were nabbed on Monday for allegedly duping people by swapping their ATM cards and withdrawing money from their bank accounts

Noida: Four men were nabbed on Monday for allegedly duping people by swapping their ATM cards and withdrawing money from their bank accounts. As many as 70 stolen cards were recovered from their possession, police said.

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The suspects were identified as Ranjeet Sahni (29), Jitendra Sahni (31), Arun Singh (42), all natives of Bihar and Prakash Chauhan (26), a native of Madhya Pradesh. According to police, the suspects would target ATM kiosks that did not have a security guard.

“They specifically targeted senior citizens. The suspects would stand in queue and offer to help. While helping, they would swap the ATM card with a fake one and then get the card details from the person who they would tell that the machine isn’t working. Afterwards, the suspects would withdraw money from the person’s account and would flee in an auto-rickshaw they had purchased,” said Rajneesh Verma, assistant commissioner of police, Zone 1.

The gang had been active for the past two and a half years, the ACP said, adding that they came on police radar after a complaint was filed with Sector 24 police by a 78-year-old man who had alleged fraudulent withdrawals from his account.

“An amount of ₹20,000 was first withdrawn and then another transaction for ₹35,000 was done using the ATM card. The suspects used the money to purchase two mobile phones. We tracked the purchases and obtained photos of the suspects. They were then traced to an ATM in Sector 22 from where they were nabbed following tip-offs,” said Verma.

Police officials said that the suspects would spend the money to buy gifts for their female friends. Apart from the 70 ATM cards, police have also recovered two mobile phones, ₹2,000 cash, six Aadhaar cards, five PAN cards, two driving licences and the auto-rickshaw.

The gang members are not very educated, said police, adding that they had learnt the tricks from watching videos on social media.

The suspects were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail, police said.