BHOPAL: Special Task Force claimed to have busted an interstate gang Mewat Haryana into the ATM fraud case, they where cheating the banks by using the simple technique.
STF units of Bhopal and Indore worked together and arrested four members of the gang. The special director general of police (SDGP) Purshottam Sharma told media that for the first time in India such a gang had been busted.
The gang members targeted the banks and not the common people. So far we were receiving complaints from the common people, but this case had opened a new front in the history of ATM frauds, SDGP added. He said, “When we informed the Reserve Bank of India about the fraud they didn’t believed us at first.
It was only when we showed them the footage of CCTV recordings- of the crime that they believed us.” He said STF is going to write an advisory to all the banks including the RBI that before taking such complaints they should conduct proper investigation.
ADG Ashok Awasthi said that the department had named the case ‘Cheating the Machine’, the accused were use two modus operandi to cheat the bank. The first method was to press the cash duct with fingers and thumb, before the cash is dispensed.
They did not let the cash come out and subsequently the machine used to give the message of ‘transaction failed.’ Following this they used to pull out the dispensed cash and would file a complaint that they were not able to withdraw the amount. On this the banks would deposit the amount into their accounts after checking their last transaction message.
The other modus operandi is related with the power button of the ATM. As soon as the ATM dispensed cash- the gang members used to switch off the machine and pull out the dispensed cash.
Once the ATM was switched on again it used to give the message of ‘transaction cancelled.’ On this they used to raise the complaint with the bank concerned about the issue and banks deposited the amount in their accounts after checking their last transaction.
The gang used 27 ATMs of various banks- of their family members, relatives and friends. SP Rajesh Bhadoria informed that the STF received a tip off that a gang is involved in fraudulently withdrawing the amount from the ATMs.
Police laid a trap and started working. Meanwhile Indore STF unit tipped off Bhopal unit about the presence of gang members in the Ashoka Garden area.
The STF succeeded in trapping four members of the gang while they were trying to commit fraud at one of the ATM situated in the Amrit Shopping Complex.
SP Vinay Paul said that their weekly target is to withdraw at least Rs 7 to 8 lakh, the STF have collected the information that they had committed the fraud of Rs 50 lakh in around 100 incidents in last one year.
They are the frequent travellers they had committee fraud in various cities of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and may be in other states also.
