30 people in Maharashtra lose Rs10 lakh to card cloning

All transactions were done from various parts of Gurugram in Haryana from midnight to dawn on Thursday.

Around 30 customers of a major private bank in Vasai have lost around Rs10 lakh to a card cloning racket. The Manickpur police have registered a cheating case against unidentified people. All transactions were done from various parts of Gurugram in Haryana from midnight to dawn on Thursday.

Picture for representation

Most victims have bank accounts in the same branch near Gurudwara in Vasai (West).

The withdrawals ranged between a minimum Rs30,000 to Rs1 lakh, said inspector Anil Patil of Manickpur police station.

An employee of a private airliner, Donald Gonsalves, said he had received an SMS alert, reading Rs1 lakh was withdrawn from an ATM at Manesar in Gurugram. He filed a complaint at Manickpur police station. Other 25 people were in the process of filing complaints. Nitin Rathod, a manager from of a Mumbai firm, also lost Rs25,000 in the racket.

The police suspect that more people have lost money in the card cloning case. They have registered case under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal and section 66(a) (d) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, said Patil.

The accused used ATMs at Bhadurgarh, Kamruddin Nagar, Manesar and other areas in Haryana, said the inspector.

“We believe that the accused cloned victims’ cards. We have asked for CCTV footage of the ATM from where cash was withdrawn,” said an officer.

Another victim, who was cheated of Rs25,000, questioned the government over poor cyber security, especially when it is pushing for cashless transactions.