The Cyber Crime wing of the Cyberabad police in Hyderabad on Wednesday arrested 10 people, mainly hailing from Jharkand and West Bengal, for cloning debit cards and fraudulently withdrawing large amounts of money from ATMs across the country. Investigation officials said that the accused would verify card numbers through e-wallets and booking applications, and validate the PIN number of bank customers through IVR (Interactive Voice Response) by calling the bank.
The police said that the case first came to light on March 26, when they received a complaint from the regional manager (Financial Crime Prevention Group), ICICI Bank, Hyderabad. The police said that the accused first began their operation in Jharkand in 2011-12, where they allegedly cheated bank customers by calling them posing to be bank officials and collected their bank account details.
"In the last few months, the accused modified their modus operandi to fetch huge amounts by attempting to fraud banks instead of targeting individual bank customers. The accused were verifying the bank debit card numbers through various mobile wallets/booking applications by randomly typing the card number and validating the PIN by calling to the IVR of different banks. After this, the fraudsters prepared cloned cards with the data secured by them and withdrew huge amounts from ATMs located in different states," the police explained in a press note.
"During the month of March, their (ICICI Bank) toll-free customer care call center at Hyderabad (18601207777) had received more than 3 lakh calls on IVR platform from various unregistered mobile numbers of bank accounts with a very specific request of balance enquiry and also attempting to ascertain the ATM PIN of a debit card number. During the relevant period more than 900 unregistered mobile numbers were used to inquire into card PIN numbers. Out of the 3,500 cards which were validated, withdrawals took place with more than 1,000 cards amounting to the tune of more than Rs 3 crore," the police added.
In this case, investigating officials said that the accused withdrew amounts from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
In an appeal to the public, the police said, "Public are advised not to store or save credit/debit card information in any apps or website since there is every probability those apps or websites will be compromised and your credentials will be exposed."