New Delhi, July 18 Science has made the world small. Sometimes whatever you need is served on a platter on your laptop. However, science cant detect if the person seeking information is genuine or has ulterior motives.
Recently while interrogating various criminals in the country, the police discovered that many of them were school dropouts, yet they managed to master the art of ATM cloning or carjacking with ease. How could they do that? Who taught them the complex system of such thefts? The answer is they learnt the tricks from YouTube tutorials!
Few days back, two criminals were caught for cheating unsuspecting senior citizens and women by cloning their ATM cards in Outer Delhi.
They were identified as Johny and Rohit, both residents of Haryana and in their early twenties. The police said the two accused learnt the art of cloning from YouTube.
"During sustained interrogation, it was revealed that they used to visit ATM booths without guards to help women and senior citizens withdraw cash. While doing so, they copied or swapped their ATM cards in the Skimmer device. Both the accused took help from YouTube to learn the entire process," said Outer Delhi DCP, A. Koan.
This meant that the two mastered the art of theft from YouTube tutorials on ATM cloning. So, can this be checked? Can the criminals be barred from watching something that can cause harm to the society?
"Well, it's a global issue, just as the platform," said Koan.
One might think that criminals living in metropolitan cities like the national capital are technologically more advanced, but the case studies suggest otherwise.
In January this year, a gang of six ATM robbers was busted by the Lucknow Police in the Vibhuti Khand area and gas cutters and other equipment used in breaking cash dispensing machines were recovered from their possession.
The police said the gang members revealed during interrogation that they had learned the tricks to break open cash dispensing machines by watching YouTube videos.
Not just ATM card cloning, the complex car locking system can also be hacked. There are several car hacking devises that thieves buy for particular car models. With these spoofing devices, they bypass the engine control module of the vehicle and then it becomes very difficult to safeguard it.
Several tutorials are available on YouTube o this, ranging from 'How to start a car with a screw driver' to 'How to unlock door (without a key)'. Videos like these could be easily accessed by anyone using a simple smartphone.
Some videos also tell people 'how thieves steal your car' and they can be easily accessed by aspiring criminals to learn the tricks of the trade.
( With inputs from IANS )