Solving Crime | How an alert bank manager and cops posing as civilians in ATM queue uncovered fraud in Navi Mumbai
In the fraud uncovered by the Vashi police in Navi Mumbai, ATMs would send notifications to customers about successful transactions but the cash remained trapped inside the machines.
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The investigation revealed that after customers left the ATM, believing they had encountered a technical error, the two suspects would return to remove the plastic sheet and collect the cash. (Credit: Pixabay)While visiting an ATM in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, in March last year, a bank manager noticed two men fidgeting with the machine. Concerned about their suspicious behaviour and prompted by previous customer complaints about being unable to withdraw cash, the manager alerted the police to potential fraudulent activity.
On checking the ATM, police and bank officials discovered that the slot meant for dispensing cash was blocked with a plastic sheet. This meant that the ATM would send SMS notifications to customers about successful transactions, while the cash remained trapped inside the machine.
The investigation revealed that after customers left the ATM, believing they had encountered a technical error, the two suspects would return to remove the plastic sheet and collect the cash.
The police then disguised themselves as civilians and queued up at the ATM. A customer withdrew Rs 20,000 but was unable to access the cash. When the suspects, who were standing behind him, quickly moved in to take the cash, the police caught them red-handed.
The Vashi police said the duo, identified as Ansar Ali and Jaleel Ahmed, would also specifically target senior citizens. While one suspect distracted the customer, the other would check the machine on the pretext of helping to figure out why the notes were not being dispensed and steal the cash by removing the plastic sheet.
The police suspect that Ali and Ahmed are part of a larger group employing similar tactics to target unmanned ATMs. Several ATM cards and plastic plates used to block the cash dispenser were recovered from them.
Over the years, the police in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region have uncovered various methods employed by scammers to exploit ATMs. Between 2016 and 2018, the Mumbai police cracked cases involving a gang that cloned cards and skimmed ATM machines. In one instance, they found a Romanian gang that installed devices to read the unique information contained in the magnetic tapes on ATM cards, which were later used to clone cards for fraudulent withdrawals. In 2020, two men were sentenced to seven years in prison for similar crimes.
(Author Sadaf Modak)
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