Mohali sees upsurge too

Pavneet Singh Chadha

Tribune News Service

Mohali, December 12

On December 1, Balwinder Pal Singh, a resident of Sunny Enclave, Kharar, was shocked to see text messages of nine transactions on his cell phone informing him that a sum of Rs 2.8 lakh had been withdrawn from his SBI bank account in a span of a few hours while he was in a deep slumber.

In November, another local resident was allegedly duped of Rs 1.3 lakh, which was withdrawn using a ‘cloned’ ATM card from his Canara Bank account.

Both had been victims of card cloning, a hack used by criminals to siphon money from bank accounts of naive and unsuspecting people.

Incidents of card cloning are a relatively new phenomenon where criminals use ‘skimming’ machines to commit debit/credit card frauds.

An official from the Cyber Cell said: “In such cases, thieves usually target an ATM machine in a deserted area and tamper with it by inserting a reader in it, which can ‘skim’ the details from the magnetic strip of the ATM card. Coordinates are then copied on a blank (clone) card. In some cases, a video camera is used to identify the victim’s coordinates.”

The official said cases of card cloning were on the rise, adding that, “Sometimes cases are traced to faraway states where cash had been withdrawn. In certain cases, the involvement of an insider of the bank cannot be ruled out.”

The official said: “Banks should start awareness campaigns and inform people to not to share OTP, PIN or other account-related details with anyone.”

Surya Kiran Sharma, a cyber security professional, said though the RBI had a two-factor authentication for online transactions, there have been instances where a victim’s card was cloned and used for online transactions.

Pavan Duggal, an advocate specialising in cyber law, said people must be vigilant when they use their debit or credit cards at restaurant, shopping malls and petrol pumps.

He said: “It is possible that miscreants use a different machine to swipe card details and then later clone the information extracted onto a blank card. Many websites do not require a ‘PIN’ for transactions. So money can be then withdrawn from the account.”

He said people should regularly check their bank statements for any irregular activity and subscribe for SMS alerts. “Ideally, get your card swiped in front of you to reduce the probability of malpractice,” he said.