3 cheats running interstate racket to dupe banks using debit cards, nabbed in Hyderabad

Sleuths of Commissioner's Task Force, South Zone Team, Hyderabad along with Nallakunta Police on Monday apprehended three Interstate debit card fraudsters and seized 23 debit cards of various banks and net cash amounting to over Rs 2 lakh.

The prime accused Mohd Iqbal hails from Delhi while the other two- Ansari and Mohd Salaim- hail from Haryana, police said.

Iqbal, who had studied till Class 12 ran an online business centre in Delhi and had basic technical knowledge while Ansari, who was illiterate used to work as a truck driver to transport vegetables. Salam who studied Computer Diploma was employed at an online centre in Delhi.

All the accused were acquainted with each other and in order to fulfill their taste for a lavish lifestyle hatched the plan to dupe banks on technical lapses, using debit cards.

The accused notoriously known as Mewat Gang, initially selected big cities/towns and choose unmanned ATM centres. Police seized a total of Rs 2,11,000 in cash from the accused during the time of their arrest.

Their modus operandi, said police, was to enter ATM centres where while one person operated the ATM machine and drew cash using a debit card, the second accused would manipulate the machine to create a technical error and take out cash from the dispenser. They would then pretend that the machine had not dispensed cash and lodge a complaint (through a toll-free number) with the bank.

The concerned bank upon checking would find the error displayed by the machine and proceed to pay the said amount to the accused as per banking Ombudsman guidelines, which stipulate that the ATM Bank has to pay back the amount to the customer of a failed transaction.

Taking this technicality as an advantage, the accused defrauded numerous banks by using several debit cards.

Basing on the credible information, the commissioner's Task Force, South Zone team and Nallakunta police apprehended the accused and seized the debit cards and net cash at their instance.

The apprehended accused and seized material has been handed over to the S.H.O. Nallakunta Police Station for further action.

( With inputs from ANI )

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