Three held for fraudulent withdrawal of money from ATMs

Three persons were arrested today for allegedly cheating people visiting ATMs by exchanging their original cards with the fake ones through sleight of hand, the police said.
Police recovered a total of 72 ATM cards of various banks from the trio, identified as Dharmveer Dalsingh Shasi, Kuldeep Shishpal Shashi and Sanjay Karmveer Shasi--all residents of Hisar in Haryana.
According to a senior official, the gang committed similar crimes in Delhi, Rajasthan, and Haryana besides in various parts of Gujarat in the last two months.
Explaining the modus operandi of the gang, he said they used to target either the elderly or those who are not well-versed with the procedure to withdraw money at the ATM (Automated Tellar Machines) kiosks.

"One of the gang members would pretend to offer help to the target and would note down the card PIN number while inserting the card in the machine. While doing so, they will quickly exchange the original ATM card of the target with the fake one," Karanraj Vaghela, DCP, Zone II, told reporters here.
He said the accused used to tell their target that his ATM card is not working, and once he left the kiosk they would withdraw the money using the original card.
"We have recovered around 72 ATM cards of various banks from the trio," the officer said, adding that the accused have withdrawn money to the tune of Rs 30 lakh in the last two months.