The Thane Crime Branch on Saturday arrested 10 people for allegedly running a card cloning racket and for stealing at least Rs 30 lakh by swiping the cloned debit cards at various ATMs.
The accused include waiters working in popular pubs and bars in Mumbai and Thane, including Rude Lounge and Bar in Powai, Malad and Thane; Bora Bora Lounge and Bar in Juhu; Jo’s Bar and Lounge in Mulund; and Stained Glass Lounge in Thane. Investigators said the waiters stole details of customers’ cards and provided them to the racket’s masterminds.
Thane Crime Branch officials said the crime came to light after a certain foreign bank's officials informed them about a series of complaints from customers about unauthorised withdrawals from their accounts. Unit I of Thane Crime Branch began the investigation by identifying patterns in the withdrawals and laid a trap to arrest the masterminds.
They have been identified as Sumit Jhingran, Vicky Carvalho, and Kevin D’souza. All three are residents of Kandivali, and would allegedly use ATMs in the area to withdraw money after cloning cards.
Thane Police Deputy Commissioner (crime) Parag Manere said the trio befriended waiters in pubs and bars in Thane and Mumbai to enroll them in their racket. The co-opted waiters would swipe debit and credit cards on a skimmer before using it for the actual payment. “They would note the PIN when the customer entered it on the machine,” Manere said. “These details were given to the masterminds. In exchange, they received a 20-30 per cent cut.”
Following the interrogation of the masterminds, Thane Crime Branch arrested seven waiters working with the top bars and pubs. “Jhingran would visit these bars and pubs, and befriend waiters on peak hour duty,” an officer said.
“Once the waiters agreed to take part in the racket, he would give them the skimmer. Carvalho would collect the details from the waiters, and clone the debit cards. D’souza would withdraw money using the cloned cards from ATMs.”
Thane Police said they recovered 30 cloned cards, two laptops, six skimmers, a card writer, a modem, and a router, along with Rs 1 lakh in cash from the accused. “Further inquiries are on,” the Crime Branch officer said.
