Ingenious ATM scam in Mumbai
The police has busted an elaborate scam of siphoning off unsuspecting people’s money, which involved stealing electricity bills and stealing cheques from the drop boxes of automated teller machines (ATM). The fraudsters’ luck ran out when a closed circuit television camera (CCTV) in an ATM captured their faces.
According to the Kandivali police, repeat offender Harish Chaudhary (25), had masterminded the scam. Harish, who had earlier been arrested in a housebreaking and theft case, enlisted the aid of his friend Bhagatram Chaudhary (32).
“The duo would steal electricity or telephone bills left tucked in the bolts of people’s homes and use them as residence proof to obtain PAN cards. Using the PAN cards, they would open accounts in banks,” said an officer with the Kandivali police station.
As the second part of the scam, the fraudsters would break into drop boxes of ATM centres, and steal cheques. The duo would change the names of the recipients of the cheques, and forge the issuer’s signature to indicate that the change had been made willingly. They would then deposit the cheques into their fake bank accounts.
The matter came to light on July 15, when the manager of HDFC Bank’s S.V. Road (Kandivali) branch lodged a complaint that two men had stolen many cheques from the bank’s ATM centre. While viewing the CCTV footage, the police recognised Harish and began looking for him. An informant tipped off the police that Harish and Bhagatram would be coming to Thakkar Mall in Borivali (west).
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