ATM error in Mumbai? Blame it on Haryana!

Mewat resident Arif Khan is believed to be an expert in jamming ATM machines; (right) cops said Rashid Khan was learning the tricks of the trade from Arif Khan

Move over, Jamtara, Mewat is here. The arrest of two men by Malad cops has brought to the fore a new modus of getting ATM machines hung and duping banks. The duo from Haryana has told the police that gangs in their hometown are training youth to jam ATMs. For practical lessons, seniors ask "trainees" to join them while committing the crime.

Jharkhand's Jamtara has been notorious for phishing - the practice of sending emails purporting to be from top companies to induce individuals to share their personal information like passwords, credit card details and OTPs.

The police said the Mewat crime model of tricking banks is spreading across the country, particularly in big cities.

The Malad police arrested Arif Khan and his assistant Rashid from a hotel in Andheri

Based on an alert by Comfort Techno Services Limited, an agency engaged by the Bank of India, about some suspicious activity at an ATM centre in Malad, the local police on Wednesday arrested Arif Khan, 26, and Rashid Khan, 22, from a hotel in Andheri. The questioning of the two, police sources said, blew the lid off the new method to cheat banks.

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A police officer said Arif trained to jam ATMs from a relative in his native Mewat of Haryana. He also interned with a gang and accompanied its members to see the crime committed first-hand. He then became independent and struck ATMs in Gurugram, Haryana and Delhi. He was then given Rashid as an assistant.
"Arif came to Mumbai with Rashid to give him practical lessons," said the officer.

Explaining their modus operandi, the officer said, "One of them would stand in a manner that blocked the CCTV. The two would switch off the ATM just when it was dispensing the cash. They would pull the notes out and call the bank saying their account got debited but they didn't receive the cash. An ATM error would then reflect in the bank's records prompting the bank to reverse the transaction." The duo has confessed to withdrawing Rs 2 lakh in the city so far.

The police recovered 64 ATM cards from Arif and Rashid. They are trying to ascertain if the two rented the cards promising a commission to the holders or got the cards made using fake details. "We are going to call all the cardholders for inquiry, as well as write to the banks demanding to block these cards." Under the guidance of DCP Vishal Thakur of Zone XI, a team led by senior inspector Ravindra Adhane tracked down the duo. The team also had inspector Sharad Jadhav and PSI Shivaji Shinde.

"The duo was produced before the court which remanded them in police custody," said DCP Thakur.

In the past few weeks, the Bandra police have also been informed about the withdrawal of about Rs 1 lakh from an ATM machine in a similar fashion. The Bandra cops have booked two persons, who too belong to Mewat, in the case.

Expertspeak

"Mostly, the banks' ATM reconciliation systems in India are well integrated with other services like fraud-monitoring systems. To stop fraudulent practices and track repeat offenders, this needs to be established as a practice across the industry with the banks that are not in the fold. This will go a long way in monitoring the banking system and stopping fraudsters," said Pinakin Dave, banking technology and security expert at OneSpan.