ATM card not stolen, but cash withdrawn

ATM card not stolen, but cash withdrawn

Over the past three days, four cases have been reported with the Navi Mumbai cyber cell alleging that money is withdrawn from their account without the knowledge of the account holder. Sounds absurd but residents of Vashi and Sanpada are facing such incidents. From Sanpada resident CS Bose’ bank account Rs 37,000 was withdrawn from the Canara Bank ATM at sector-1 in spite of him possessing the card at the time of the transaction. “I got a SMS alert saying that the transaction was made from centre at Vashi. It was midnight when the amount was withdrawn. Next day when I visited the bank, they said the money was withdrawn from the ATM centre. I was shocked as the ATM card was with me and not stolen,” Bose said. When he went to register a complaint with the Vashi police, he learnt that he was the fourth victim to this modus operandi. The cyber cell officials suspect that the accused might have figured out an ATM centre which is not well equipped with security measures. Then, the accused might have installed a skimmer device where the card is inserted. The skimmer machine records the data of the ATM card inserted and makes a clone of it. However, this device does not save the password of the card. The accused might have probably put a camera on the ATM machine to record the password pin when the customer is typing it. Using the details from the skimmer device and the camera footage, the accused accesses account of any user and then withdraws money. After cross checking the details of the four victims, it was found that all the four have used the same Canara Bank ATM centre at sector-1. A police officer from Navi Mumbai cyber cell said, “The mark indicates that the device was installed here. There was no security guard present at the ATM centre due to which the accused could conveniently install the device.” Cyber cell officials suggest that if an ATM centre does not have a security guard or there is a suspicious looking machine attached to the opening where the card is inserted, the machine should not be used. Also, while typing the password, one should hide the process either by holding a hand above or covering the keys with a paper. It is the first time that such a case has been reported in Navi Mumbai, confirmed the police. “We have figured out the ATM centre wherein the incident occurred but it can happen at any such centres. People should be alert and bank officials should assure security arrangement for the ATM centres. The main problem we face is the response from the bank. Even as we have asked the bank to send the CCTV footage of the transaction made, they have been delaying the process. We are investigating all the cases simultaneously,” a police officer from Navi Mumbai cyber cell informed.