An aspiring 22-year-old model, who allegedly duped people by swapping their debit cards at ATM booths in order to collect Rs.2.5 lakh for her portfolio photo shoot, has been arrested.
A graduate from the Delhi School of Business, the accused has participated in fashion shows and events organised in Delhi, Mumbai and Punjab, including the Parampara fashion event in Mumbai and the Auto Expo in Delhi, the police said.
Vijay Singh, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) said: “The model wanted to make it big in the industry, for which she needed a good portfolio. So, she approached a famous professional fashion photographer in Mumbai for her photo shoot. He demanded a fee of Rs2.5 lakh.”
In order to collect the amount, the woman allegedly decided to dupe people at ATM booths. She learnt how to swap debit cards from the Internet, the officer said.
Recce
Soon, she came across scrap dealer Shakil Malik. They became friends, after which she allegedly shared her plan with him. Since Malik was a good driver and owned a car, he proved to be an asset as he would swiftly drive her away from the crime spot.
Together, they began conducting a recce of ATM booths that were temporarily unable to dispense cash and would wait outside for people who were not proficient in using the machine.
“When presented with an opportunity, the woman would enter the ATM booth and offer to assist the customer. She would be dressed well to avoid suspicion,” said the officer.
The model would allegedly use the opportunity to not only swap the victim’s ATM card with a useless card, but also sneak a look at the ATM PIN number. Within minutes, the victims would lose their money.
One such victim was Anita Rani, a resident of north-west Delhi’s Indira Vihar. On July 15, Ms. Rani went to a Punjab National Bank ATM kiosk, when she was approached by the accused. The model used the same modus operandi to cheat her of Rs.25,000. The victim realised she had been duped only after she received an SMS informing her about the withdrawal. She checked her ATM card and discovered that it had been swapped with a useless one.
Though she had got a police case registered, she spotted the accused loitering outside the same ATM kiosk last Sunday. Ms. Rani immediately informed a beat policeman nearby, who nabbed both the model and her driver. With their arrest, the police have claims to have solved at least five registered cheating cases.
