Hi-tech ATM cloning machine discovered in Gurugram
21 April 2018 5:21 AM IST
Gurugram: Had their plan acted out as they intended it to, a group of robbers in Gurugram would have successfully looted hundred of people who used a PNB ATM located in the city's Civil Lines area.
With the aim of cloning debit and credit cards, the robbers placed a device in the ATM, which sees a large number of people coming to withdraw money daily.
To make sure that there was no room for error, the robbers placed the device exactly in the slot where the card is entered and placed a mirror near the screen where the password is entered, so that it could be copied by the device.
Had the robbers got the device back, credit and debit card data of hundred of people would have ended up in the hands of the robbers, with simply a swipe of their card.
Fortunately, the machine was discovered by some employees of the bank during surveillance, after which a police complaint was made.
Taking cognisance of the seriousness of the case, Gurugram police has registered a case under sections 511 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code.
However, no arrests have been made by as of now and law enforcement officials are relying on the CCTV footages to get hold of the criminals.
Cases of card and data theft are the most common complaints received by the Gurugram police Cyber Crime team.
Sources in the branch mention that most criminals who commit these acts are not from Gurugram. For customer information, the accused rely on bank employees, who either intentionally or unintentionally give away the information.
Officials in the Cyber Crime branch highlighted that contractual employees, new employees and insurance agents are the most common groups of employees targetted by criminals to accessing the customer information.
They also highlighted that many people earn money selling information of residents living in city condominiums. This information is then used by the criminals to and try dupe the residents.
"In today's times, cloning of credit and debit cards is not that difficult. You can easily get fake credit cards and debit cards in the market. The vital part is to get customer information, which can then be exploited further. Most criminals who commit cyber crimes know where exactly they can access customer information. They, therefore, keep a track on petrol pumps, hotels, banks and call centres in the city.
"The vital details of the customer get leaked deliberately or through carelessness by the employees," said a senior official from Gurugram Police.
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