12 in Lucknow lose Rs 11 lakh in card fraud over 48 hours

LUCKNOW: Card cloning gangs targeted 12 more city residents in the past two days, taking the number of cases to a record 56 this year. Cyber cell officers have put the amount of fraudulent withdrawals in the last 48 hours at Rs 11.20 lakh.
The fact that all these sham transactions took place while the debit cards were entirely in the possession of their bona fide owners has left police flummoxed.
Marut Nandan Singh, a resident of Aashiana who works for an MNC, said he lost Rs 2.5 lakh. "I received four SMS alerts one after the another late on Sunday. I rushed to the bank on Monday only to be told that the transactions had been made in Mumbai," he added.
Mayank Rai, a music teacher at a private school in Gomtinagar, was duped of Rs 1 lakh in two instalments on Tuesday despite the fact that he had not used his debit card at any ATM or shop since January 1. Mahesh Tyagi, a contractor in Bazaarkhala, lost Rs 1 lakh on Monday. Tyagi too had not used his debit card since February.
Two government employees are among victims. Vishwajeet Singh of Aishbagh, employed in the health department, lost Rs 2 lakh. According to his complaint, he received two SMS alerts on Monday about four fraudulent transactions of Rs 50,000 each. Mahanagar resident Ashok Kumar, employed with HAL, has been cheated of Rs 1 lakh. He received four e-shopping alerts, each of Rs 25,000 on Monday morning.
Nodal cyber cell in-charge Abhay Mishra said they were analysing transaction details of all cloned cards. "We will acquire CCTV camera footage of ATMs where these cloned cards have been used. In case of e-shopping, the sites in question will be examined," Mishra added.