Kasturba Marg Police Station has arrested a 37 year old man for allegedly duping senior citizens through a debit card swapping fraud in Borivali East. According to Midday, the accused, Francis Patrick Fernandes, was caught outside an ATM booth on Carter Road No 9, where police recovered 71 debit cards from his bag.
According to investigators, Fernandes lived with his widower father, who is suffering from paralysis. Police said he allegedly turned ATM fraud into a full time operation over the past several months.
Modus Operandi
Police said Fernandes targeted elderly citizens visiting ATMs under the pretext of offering help with cash withdrawals. He would carefully observe victims entering their PINs and then swap their debit cards without their knowledge.
He is suspected to have cheated at least three senior citizens on February 7, 10 and 13 using this method. Officers revealed that he allegedly learned the technique from a group of youths from Uttar Pradesh who travelled to Mumbai to carry out ATM related frauds.
Fernandes has been booked under Section 318, 4 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66, d of the IT Act.
Case That Led To Arrest
The breakthrough came after a complaint by 75 year old Santosh Shiva Naik, who visited a Bank of India ATM on February 7 around 11.45 am to withdraw cash. The accused allegedly offered assistance, memorised Naik’s PIN, swapped his card and later withdrew Rs 10,000 from the account.
CCTV footage analysis showed that Fernandes frequently visited the ATM every few days, allegedly scouting for elderly targets. Acting on this information, the Crime Detection team laid a trap outside the ATM. He was detained and formally arrested on February 17.
The operation was carried out under the supervision of Senior Police Inspector Jayraj Ranaware along with PI Jaymala Vasave, API Sarla Thorat, PSI Dhiraj Vaykos and PSI Aniket Shinde.
Police have urged citizens not to share debit cards or PINs with strangers under any circumstances.
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