Three managers of three different stores were arrested by the city crime branch for allegedly duping customers after stealing their card details. The crime branch unit 9 which has arrested eight accused in the case so far, suspect that hundreds of people have been cheated by the gang in similar ways. The crime branch has seized 181 cards, nine skimmer devices and one card writer from the gang.
According to the police, the mastermind of the gang, Mohammad Faiz Chaudhary, 27 has allegedly given skimmer devices to many store managers to copy customer data. So far, three store managers have been arrested -- Yashwant Gupta, a manager at Powai hotel, Amarjit Rajbhar, manager at a garment store in Andheri West and Vivekanad Shinde, a manager at an ice cream shop in Pune.
These managers secretly swiped customers’ cards from the skimmer devices to copy its data and memorise PIN as customers entered while making payments. For each card data and corresponding PIN number, Chaudhary either paid them Rs 500 per card or 10 % amount which would be withdrawn from the customer's card.
Last week, crime branch unit 9 arrested Gupta after several hotel's customers reportedly fell pray for cyber frauds even though they did not share their card details nor their PIN number to anyone.
During the internal probe, the bank realised that all of the victims had gone to the hotel and made payment through their card before the fraud. According to police, Chaudhary used to buy data from these managers and imprint data on blank cards. The cards were later handed over to his associates along with the corresponding PIN number to withdraw cash.
His accomplices then went as far as Pune and Satara to avoid suspicion. They generally withdrew cash before public holidays so that they could get more time to escape, said police.
"One should always ensure that the debit/credit is swiped right in front of you while making card payments and the PIN should never be shared with anyone. Always insert the PIN while hiding your number,” said Deputy Commissioner of crime branch Akbar Pathan.
