Rajkot: Two held for over 50 ATM frauds

RAJKOT: Junagadh local crime branch busted a gang allegedly involved in ATM card fraud. Two members of the Andhra Pradesh gang who were arrested have admitted to have committed 51 frauds in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh using the same modus operandi.
According to the police, Krishnamurthy Sunpushetty (44) and Mohana Gaund native of Andhra Pradesh were arrested two days ago.Police recovered 52 ATM cards in their possession.
Their modus operandi was to target senior citizens and those who were not well versed with technology. They used to stand near ATM centre and deliberately dash into the victim. When victim’s card fell down, one of them while picking up the card swapped it with other card. When the victim tried to withdraw money the transaction would fail. During this time the accused noted the ATM PIN that the person feeded. In last six months they targeted several people in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Junagadh district with the same modus operandi.
The duo were nabbed after they had withdrawn cash and purchased a mobile phone using the ATM card of a 71-year-old teacher Chandrakant Makwana in Gondal on June 21.
Later in the day, Makwana got a call from Junagadh LCB asking if he had lost any money from his account. Makwana was unaware but when he took out a mini statement from the bank, he realized that Rs 20,000 cash was withdrawn from an ATM kiosk in Rajkot while a mobile worth Rs 39,000 was also purchased using his card. In all, Makwana lost Rs 68,000 in three transactions.