Pune: Restaurant Cashier Arrested For Cloning ATM Cards By Noting Down Customers' ATM Pins

The police in Hinjawadi, Pune apprehended a cashier after a fast food outlet (Zakkas Hotel) owner, Ganesh Patil informed them about his suspicious behaviour. First noticed by his assistant and later captured on CCTV footage, the accused Vicky Agarwal used a card skimmer in the card swipe machine to copy details of customers cards onto blank ones and surreptitiously noted down the ATM pins while the customers paid the bill. Later, he used the cloned cards for fraudulent transactions.

Card skimming means attaching a data skimming device to the card reader slot to copy information from the magnetic strip when one swipes the card, and they may also set up cameras near the machine to get the PIN.

The police suspect that the accused is a habitual offender and are trying to get a precise estimate of his activities as he has deleted all records. However, as reported as Hindustan Times, the police recovered material worth Rs 72,050 including a card skimmer, four mobile phones of Redmi, one mobile phone of Samsung, two PAN cards and an Aadhaar card, Rs 35,000 cash, a laptop, a computer disk, 39 fake ATM cards and four blank ATM cards.

As per reports, the fraud was committed between November 23 and 24 during his ten-day probation period as the cashier.

A case under Sections 379, 419, 420 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 43, 66, 66(d) and 72 of Information Technology Act, 2008 was registered against Agarwal on Saturday around 9 pm. He was remanded to police custody until December 1 by the local court.

A similar case of card skimming was found in Connaught Place, Delhi where a man was booked for allegedly cloning credit and debit cards of customers, and using them to withdraw around Rs 6,03,500.

If customers are not vigilant then cashiers, waiters, toll plaza attendants and anybody who handles your card can potentially copy and clone the card.

Basic Safety Tips

• Never reveal your ATM pin to anyone.
• Keep a look out for overhead cameras and strangers peering over your shoulder when you enter your pin.
• Banks never call and ask for your pin.
• Keep track of transactions and notify bank and police as soon as possible in case of fraud.