300 People Duped In ATM Fraud; Know What To Do If You’re The Victim

The Delhi Crime Branch has arrested two people who would dupe people in ATMs on the pretext of helping them withdraw money. They have duped at least 300 people by swapping their cards. Cops have been able to retrieve 17 debit cards and some other blank cards from them.

The two accused were caught after police received a tip-off that the two were going to Azadpur, Delhi to exchange cards. They laid a trap and arrested the accused. The accused told the police that the duo would target isolated ATMs. They would wait for elderly people or uneducated youth to come, The Times of India. While one of them would engage the person in conversation, the other would note down the pin and exchange the card. Reportedly, the accused are part of a gang.

Both the accused come from an economically weaker background. One of them joined the gang to make some quick buck, the other started working in the gang to support his drug addiction.

What to do in case of fraud?

The Logical Indian spoke to someone who had been a victim of ATM’s fraudulent transaction. On May 5, 2018, he received a text from his bank at 4 pm that two transactions had been done at 11:53 & 11:54 am. The first transaction was for Rs 20,000 and the second one was for Rs 16,000. What he did then was immediately called the bank and informed them that the transaction was not done by him.

The bank asked him a series of questions such as if he lost his card or shared his PIN with anybody. Then he was asked to write a Letter of Incident, file a police complaint and the FIR copy to the bank and fill out some official dispute form. After submitting all these documents with the bank, the process of refund was initiated. He was assured that the money would be given back in 30 days. The bank even sent the CCTV footage to the police station. The person got his refund exactly a month after filing the complaint. Here is what you can do to prevent such things from happening. In case of an ATM fraud, the first thing to do:

Immediately call the customer care of your bank and lodge a complaint.

Go to your local police station and file a First Information Report (FIR)

Keep all the complaint numbers and documents ready

If the transaction has not been initiated by you or anyone you know, if you have not shared you pin with anyone, then you are eligible to get your money refunded. The bank usually takes 30 days to refund the money. There is no need to worry, once you follow all the procedure and go through all the documentation required, you will get your refund back.

Be careful while making any transactions from isolated ATMs that do not have a security guard.

Also Read: 25,000 Cash Didn’t Dispense From ATM, SBI Says Can’t Return The Money As Customer Shared The PIN