The ease instigated by technology comes at a price & to ensure your hard-earned money is safe, keep yourself on guard from conmen. Kartikey Dev Singh digs deep to unearth the ‘foul play’
The skimming scams are getting sophisticated. Gone are the days when a widow of a dictator of some African country used to send you an email asking for your bank account number to share the fortune left by her dead husband.
With the leap in technology, the cyber conmen now sitting anywhere in the world can withdraw money from your bank account leaving you clueless. The Jaipur Police recently busted a gang that made over 80 Jaipurites their victim through ATM cloning and successfully took out Rs 27 lakh from these victims’ bank accounts.
Interestingly, the cloning devices that the men used are not hard to get hands on as these can be purchased from any e-commerce site.
ILLEGALITY INVOLVED
“The devices used for skimming are essentially magnetic strip readers and writers that read the black magnetic strip behind any card and write them down on another card. It is not illegal to sell or buy these devices as even food courts in malls or clubs use this technique to cater to customers. However, what use you put these devices to determines if a person has committed a crime or not,” says an official from Jaipur Commissionerate, on condition of anonymity.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Sources reveal that the card reader is installed in an ATM by two methods - outside and inside. “The first method is installing the reader from outside wherein the reader is stuck using glue on top of the machine where the card is put in. The second method is installing the reader inside the machine. This takes time and is not favoured much as opening the ATM and installing might land a person in trouble. However, this second method is fool proof as no person can identify if a skimming device has been put in place of original one without opening the machine,” the source said. However, just installing the skimming device does not ensure that a miscreant would be able to draw money. “To get the PIN, a video camera is installed and even if the video quality is not good, the miscreants can make out which numbers you have pressed by just looking at your gestures,” sources said.
STREET-SMARTNESS
Interestingly, in December 2014 a skimming device was installed in an ATM at MI Road wherein 150 cards were cloned. From entering the ATM to getting out of it, the accused used only 63 seconds to install the video camera, reader and even check the same if its working properly.
“Those who install the cameras are so accurate in installation that they put the camera in such a way that the keypad on the ATM can be seen clearly” officials said.
PROVING THE CRIME
Notably, highly placed sources also inform that although video footage are being recovered, the arrested men have not been seen clearly installing a camera so far. There are some ATMs where photos are taken and not video due to which the entire act could not be captured.
As regards the three Romanian nationals, the city police have learnt that the men had invested in bitcoins as well and were looking to send money through hawala. “We have recovered some receipts showing that some money has been transferred and this is being investigated,” sources said.
KEEP MISCREANTS AT BAY
But how can a common person save himself from being duped? “When you enter an ATM, make sure to check the surroundings for any video camera installed on the ceiling or at an angle that can show the keypad. Also check the card scanner, if any scanner is installed above the original one, then you can identify it easily. Always hide the PIN which totally negates all these acts. Also at times people do not approach the cops when falling prey to such incidents. People should come out and inform the police in such matters,” says Mukesh Choudhary, cyber expert.
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
An interesting incident occurred in Jodhpur last year when a foreigner entered an ATM to withdraw money. Upon entering he held the card slot and shook it. This removed the card reader that had been installed and the foreigner quickly informed the police about it. When questioned as to how did he come to know of the card reader, the foreigner informed the cops that such incidents happened in his country and this was the usual practice employed by locals to find out if any reader has been installed or not.
TAKE CHARGE
- Try giving the keypad and card slot a wiggle. If either feels loose then don’t insert your card at all.
- Second, do your best to cover the keypad when entering your PIN just in case there’s a camera installed.
- Finally, if the machine swallows your card then call the bank while you’re still in front of the machine, if you can.
—Source Internet
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 "ATM Skimming")
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