Chennai police on Tuesday averted major theft of bank card data of customers by unearthing a >skimmer device planted inside an ATM kiosk in the city. Initially suspected to be a bomb, the equipment recovered for the first time in the city, was identified to be an amateurish skimmer used to illegally copy bankcard details of ATM users including the PIN.
Sources with the Madipakkam police circle said the device was detected inside the ATM kiosk of Punjab National Bank at Medavakkam Koot Road on Monday evening. A sweeper who came to the kiosk could not open the door to the ATM and informed a bank technician.
“The technician managed to open the door with much effort and was shocked to find a soap box attached to a mobile phone planted inside the circuit board behind the door. He thought it was a bomb and alerted the bank authorities who immediately called the police,” said R. Vedharathinam, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Madipakkam.
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“We opened the soap box to find a circuit, and a wire from it was attached to a skimmer that was concealed near the door inside the kiosk which could be opened only using a valid ATM/debit/credit card. The culprit is suspected to have placed the skimmer in such a way that the data of any card used to open the door would be copied on to the cell phone pasted atop the soapbox,” the officer added.
“The cell phone could be paired via Bluetooth with another handset in possession of the culprit who would be standing a few metres away from the ATM kiosk and receiving the card details on it,” Mr. Vedharathinam added. Police recovered the skimmer device and the mobile phone. An examination of the CCTV footages obtained from the ATM kiosk revealed a man wearing a cap working on the circuit near the door on Saturday. The case is expected to be transferred to the Central Crime Branch.