Seven men arrested for switching ATM cards, 107 stolen cards recovered

Noida police on Thursday afternoon nabbed seven persons over their alleged involvement in fraud via swapping ATM cards of unsuspecting users. Police said they recovered

Noida police on Thursday afternoon nabbed seven persons over their alleged involvement in fraud via swapping ATM cards of unsuspecting users. Police said they recovered 107 ATM cards.

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According to officers, they were arrested from near Sector 62 following a tip-off from an informant.

“It is an inter-state gang that has been active in Delhi, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, etc. They would defraud people on the pretext of helping them with their transactions and then swap the victim’s card with one of their own after taking a note of the PIN number. Once the victim would leave, they would withdraw money and flee,” said joint commissioner of police Luv Kumar.

He said the gang would specifically target elderly persons or those who were not tech savvy, in order to dupe them.

“Their modus operandi also involved targeting ATM kiosks where no security guard was posted or booths that are not frequently used by the public. Sometimes they would also target ‘out of order’ ATMs. They knew that transactions at such a place won’t happen. So they would simply remove the warning board and then wait for users before swapping the cards,” said Kumar.

All the suspects are in their late twenties and early thirties, said the police, adding that the gang has been active for the past six to seven years and that all suspects have an extensive criminal history.

Police also recovered ₹4.02 lakh from the suspects, four stolen wallets and a Swift car. Other cases in which they may be involved are being looked into.

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