More than 500 cloned smart cards recovered

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 13

Over 500 smart cards in which data of cloned ATMs was transferred, six memory cards with ATM PIN numbers, six skimmers and two laptops apart from other accessories have been recovered by the Crime Branch sleuths from the fraudsters, who installed skimmers at ATMs in the city.

Sources said the smart cards with magnetic strips in which data of each cloned ATM was transferred, has been recovered.

“All cards have PIN numbers of customers,” said a police official.

Sources said it was suspected that the cloned cards recovered from the accused contained data collected by installing skimming devices from other parts of the country. However, the accused were yet to collect the skimming devices installed at ATMs in Chandigarh.

The investigation has revealed that the transactions from the cards were supposed to be made in other countries once the accused escaped India.

The accused targeted old ATM machines, having a curved structure above the keypad, which was used to fit a camera. The video recording helped them in getting the ATM PIN numbers of the customers. The foreign nationals could have siphoned-off several crores from the accounts of the gullible people.

Made WhatsApp calls to pimps

Sources said the Romanians had made several WhatsApp calls to escort services on July 29, 30 and August 4. They had spent a lot of money on prostitution.