Retired AIR employee Vijayalakshmi, homemaker Sripriya and IT professional Sukumar, residents of Chennai, have one thing in common: they are all victims of debit card thefts. The blunder they all made — writing down their Personal Identification Number (PIN) on a piece of paper and storing it along with the card.
According to the police, there is a sudden surge in thefts of bank cards and subsequent withdrawals of cash by the thieves. At least two cases are reported every month in the city and the recovery rate is low.
“As I disembarked from a bus on Friday on Kamarajar Salai, two women, one with an infant, diverted my attention by saying that I should take the subway. Shortly after, I realised that my purse in which I had kept in my handbag was missing. Within 30 minutes, a total of Rs. 69,000 was withdrawn using my Indian Bank and SBI debit cards. I had kept the PINs written on a piece of paper inside the purse,” said Vijayalakshmi (62), who lodged a complaint with the Zam Bazaar police.
The thieves had withdrawn money by using both the cards at an ATM on Anna Salai. The senior citizen has approached bank authorities in an attempt to retrieve the cash.
Another victim, Sripriya, who lost her handbag and the debit card kept in it last October in Mylapore lost Rs. 50,000, after her card was swiped at an Axis Bank ATM. “The CCTV footage showing a woman covering her face with a dupatta and using the ATM is available with the bank,” said her relative.
The chance of retrieving the stolen money is close to impossible with most banks citing ‘customer negligence’. “Compensation is possible in the case of illegal use of a stolen credit card by a hacker or thief. But in such cases of negligence a refund is not possible as all banks have repeatedly advised customers to maintain PIN secrecy,” said a senior officer of a nationalised bank.
