Scamsters target ATMs in rural areas

MYSURU: Think twice before swiping your card to draw money from an ATM without a security guard in rural areas.
Cybercrime, Economic Offences, and Narcotics (CEN) police are investigating the second case of phishing reported from the district in the last 10 days in which money of a farmer has been drawn from an ATM in Raigarh of Chhattisgarh. Police suspect that cybercriminals are targeting rural ATMs where they can fix skimmers easily due to lack of CCTVs and security guards.
According to a complaint registered by CEN police, Shivaraju D, a resident of Mallahalli, had withdrawn Rs 4,000 from an ATM of a nationalized bank located in Hullahalli on January 29.But on January 31 night, he received a message stating that Rs 20,000 and Rs 12,500 have been withdrawn in two separate transactions. The money was withdrawn from an ATM in Raigarh of Chhattisgarh. He has lodged a complaint with CEN police in this regard.
According to CEN police, they have launched an investigation into this issue. “We suspect that the miscreants fixed the skimmer and later removed it after collecting the ATM details of the victim. Later, they would have shared the details with their counterparts in North India who in turn withdrew money after creating a bogus card,” police said.
According to police, bank customers as well as the authorities must be very careful as the cases of phishing are increasing every day. “One can easily learn the technique of attaching the skimmer to the ATM machine through online videos. People must avoid visiting the ATMs without CCTVs and security guards. Bank officials must also keep an eye on the attachments to the ATM machines,” police said.