This story is from June 25, 2020

UP: Young conmen clone ATM cards, build houses, buy cars in Pratapgarh

The four fraudsters arrested from Pratapgarh for running an inter-state card cloning racket confessed to have cloned more than 600 ATM cards from 2016 to 2018 in Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and duped hundreds of unsuspecting people, but never fell in police net.
UP: Young conmen clone ATM cards, build houses, buy cars in Pratapgarh
Representational image
PRAYAGRAJ: The four fraudsters arrested from Pratapgarh for running an inter-state card cloning racket confessed to have cloned more than 600 ATM cards from 2016 to 2018 in Delhi, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar and duped hundreds of unsuspecting people, but never fell in police net.
They also admitted to have siphoned off lakhs of rupees and constructed their houses and bought cars.
Pratapgarh police on Tuesday arrested Nem Chandra Saroj, Kapil Verma, Rajendra Singh alias Kalloo Don and Krishnaveer Singh Yadav alias Krishna on charges of running an inter-state ATM card cloning racket.
The police also recovered ATM cloning machine, RFID device, ATM cards and hi-tech gadgets from them.
Police claimed the fraudsters had withdrawn at least Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 from each cloned ATM card and accumulated wealth worth lakhs of rupees.
Further investigations revealed that around 20 youths from Patuliki and its two adjoining villages have been arrested by police in the recent past for card cloning.
SP (Pratapgarh) Abhishek Singh told TOI, “Nem Chandra and Rajendra have built houses in their villages with the ill-gotten money. Kapil Verma not only constructed a house but also purchased a costly car.”
“Nem Chandra had done Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Application (PGDCA) and even worked in the marketing wing of a multi-national company for six months. Further investigations revealed that youths of the nearby villages are joining the racket to earn fast bucks,” the SP added.

Police teams are now preparing a list of fraudsters hailing from Patuliki, Badni, Sariyapur and adjoining villages under jurisdiction of Jethwara and Mandhata police stations in Pratapgarh district which have virtually turned into a hub of card cloning fraud.
In past six months, over 20 youths have been arrested in different parts of the state on charges of cloning ATM cards. The fraudsters keep changing their locations to evade being traced and arrested, said police.
The fraudsters target crowded ATMs in semi-urban and rural pockets and look for customers who look illiterate and not well versed in operating ATM. They used to travel in flashy cars and lived in expensive hotels to avoid suspicion.
author
About the Author
Kapil Dixit

Kapil Dixit is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Mass Communications. He has covered crime at regional as well as state level. His hobbies include reading, writing and meeting people with diverse interests.

End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA