Panic grips Jamia Nagar as ATM fraudsters strike city

New Delhi: Panic grips Jamia Nagar residents as several ATMS in the locality were struck by frausters who have attached ATM card cloning machines and have duped many of lakhs of rupees.

The Delhi Police after getting a series of complaints have put the shutters down of several unguarded ATMs and have initiated an inquiry to arrest the culprits. Beside the inconvenience caused to the residents of the area, people are now also worried about the safety of their hard earned money.

Apurva Gupta, a PhD scholar in Physics at Jamia Milia Islamia university got messages of a series of successive transactions from his Indian Bank account in Jamia Milia Islamia.

By the time he could get his account blocked, the hackers wiped out his account and withdrew 34 thousand rupees from it. Apurva, immediately approached police and lodged an FIR.

According to sources, the police had received several complaints of ATM frauds where the hackers have siphoned off money from accounts.

Reacting to this condition, the Delhi Police has shut down several unguarded ATMs at Joga Bai, Zakir Nagar, Batla House, Okhla Vihar and Jamia Milia Islamia. "We have closed all unguarded ATMs in the area. That means the ATMs of several banks functioning without a security guard are closed. We have also asked banks to depute a security guard to their respective ATMs," said a senior police officer.

People said that the unguarded ATMs encourage the fraudsters to manupulate the ATM machine by fixing the ATM cloning gadget and later, fraudulently withdrawing money from the bank accounts of the potential targets.

Also, the gang, on the pretext of helping the elderly and not so tech savvy customers, withdraw the money from the account of the victims by changing the ATM cards after knowing their PIN numbers. By the time people realise that they have been duped, the fraudsters evade from the scene.

"I lost my Rs 5,000 to ATM fraudsters an year ago, till date I haven't got my money back. I had my account in Union Bank in Jamia Nagar. Interestingly, I have never been to the area from where my money was withdrawn in Ramesh Nagar in Delhi," said Mohammad Tarique, who resides in Abul fazal Enclave.

Meanwhile, a Whatsapp message was also circulated in Jamia Nagar, cautioning residents of using the ATMs in the area. The policemen were seen bringing down the shutters of the ATM which were unguarded. Teams have been formed to investigate the cases.