Two held for duping banks of Rs.8 lakh

FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013 file photo, a person inserts a debit card into an ATM machine in Pittsburgh. A federal appeals court has handed a defeat to a coalition of retail groups that challenged as too high the Federal Reserve's cap on how much banks can charge businesses for handling debit card transactions. The ruling issued Friday, March 21, 2014 by the U.S. Appeals Court for the District of Columbia overturned a lower court's decision in July that favored the merchants and was a setback for banks. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Two men have been arrested for cheating various city banks of several lakhs through a racket at ATM machines, the crime branch said.

Pushpender, 23, who holds a diploma in computer engineering, and Ravi, 22, a final-year college student, confessed to having targeted over 40 accounts and cheated banks of Rs.8 lakh, said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.

“While withdrawing cash from an ATM, they would block the currency dispenser shutter using some object and let one or two currency notes slip back in the machine. This would result in an error report being generated by the ATM machine. The error message would state that the transaction could not be completed despite the duo having successfully withdrawn the amount. They would then claim the transacted amount from the bank on the basis of the error report. That way, they would get double the amount for such withdrawals,” Mr. Yadav added.

According to the crime branch, the accused would open accounts in different banks and get ATM cards issued. Besides, they would also get bank accounts opened in the name of their family members, friends and relatives to procure ATM cards to practice their modus operandi.

The police claimed to have recovered 13 ATM cards issued by various banks, Rs.37,000 in cash, information about a deposit of nearly Rs.6 lakh that was obtained through cheating and an iPhone 6 bought from the proceeds of crime.

The individual account holders whose ATM cards were used by the duo, the police claimed, were paid Rs.5,000 for each ATM card. Investigation has revealed that the men were part of an organised gang operating in Delhi-NCR.

“Banks had been receiving complaints regarding non-disbursement of cash at ATM machines over the past one-and-a-half years. However, on checking the cash was found to have been disbursed,” said Mr. Yadav.

“CCTV footage also confirmed that the cash was disbursed by the ATM. A complaint was lodged in this regard, and both Pushpender and Ravi were identified on the basis of footage from cameras installed at various ATM machines,” the officer said, adding that more members of the gang had been identified and efforts to trace them were underway.

Pushpender and Ravi confessed to having targeted over 40 accounts through a racket at ATM machines