Duo arrested in J-K for cloning ATM cards, stealing money

Two persons suspected to be members of an inter-state gang behind illegal withdrawal of money by cloning ATM cards of users, were today arrested in Leh district in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
Both persons were on the "most wanted" list of police in Delhi and other parts of the country, and their arrest is a "prize catch", a police spokesman said.
"Ajay and Sanjay (name changed) were in the process of obtaining PIN numbers illegally at an ATM in Leh after cloning the cards by placing some device on machine," the spokesman said.
He said the breakthrough was achieved after police constituted a special team to investigate recent complaints about withdrawal of money from various accounts of customers of Leh, at various locations in the National Capital Region (NCR) without their knowledge.

"Police personnel in civvies were deployed at some selected ATMs with proper briefings and a round-the-clock surveillance was also maintained which led to the arrest of the duo," the spokesman said.
During interrogation and enquiry, it surfaced that the accused persons usually came to Leh from Delhi for a few days and during this period they would choose some unguarded ATMs and attach their own cloning machine with it (ATM).

"The members of the gang pretending themselves as customers would entice genuine customers to insert their cards into the ATMs (having cloning machine fitted with it) and at the same time they would also note the PIN numbers of the customers by standing behind them," the spokesman said.

Thereafter, the spokesman said they would flee the area with the collected data for generation of ATM cards at Delhi and other parts of the country and withdraw money from the accounts of the customers.
"This gang has been active in National Capital Region and many other states like Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra, UP and Haryana where they use the same technique to collect data related to ATM cards. The arrested members of the gang are most wanted in Delhi and other parts of the country and are prize catch," he said.
The spokesman appealed to the public in general and ATM card users of Leh, Kargil and Srinagar to immediately change PIN numbers or passwords of their ATM cards so that the chances of further withdrawals are minimised.

He said special teams have been formed and fanned out to arrest other members of the gang.