Hyderabad: The Cyber Crime Police of Cyberabad arrested three-member gang for Skimming of card data at renowned restaurants & bars/pubs in Hyderabad, cloning of cards and withdrawal of amounts from ATMs by using cloned cards.
The Accused are Praful Kumar Nayak, age 25 yrs, R/o. Madhapur, Hemanth Kumar Nayak, age 28 yrs, R/o.Madhapur, and Sujit Kumar Nayak, age 31 yrs, R/o.Madhapur. All the three hail from Odisha State.
Facts of the case are that on March 5 received a complaint from the manager of HDFC Bank, Gachibowli, Hyderabad in which he stated that their bank is in receipt of two complaints in respect of fraudulent withdrawal of amounts to the tune of Rs.76,000/- by fraudsters by using their cards. The customers further informed that they were present at their respective residences when the disputed transactions happened at ATMs located at Yousufguda & Jubilee Hills.
So far, the accused have collected card data of more than 150 customers while working at different restaurants/pubs in Hyderabad and Cyberabad limits by using a skimmer. They prepared cloned cards and withdrawn lakhs of rupees from magnetic strip-based ATM machines in Hyderabad. More than 31 banks (Indian and Foreign banks) customer cards data has been stolen by the accused and made fraudulent transactions.
Net Cash of Rs.10,10,000/-, one Skimmer, One cloning machine, two laptops, 44 cloned cards, and six mobiles were seized from the culprits.
Advisory
Police advised the people Never hand over the card to the staff at restaurants for paying the bill, Never allow the staff to see while you type the PIN number/Always cover with hand while entering the PIN, Never disclose the PIN Number of card to the staff at restaurants for clearing the bill.
As the frauds are taking place mostly at bars and restaurants, targeting people in an inebriated condition, people are advised to take all necessary precautions while using cards to pay the bills. Change your Debit/Credit PIN periodically, Check the bank statements regularly, Update your latest mobile number & email id with your bank for getting transaction alerts.
The management of pubs and restaurants are advised to check the antecedents before employing the staff.
