Inter-state gang 'skimming' ATM cards held in AP

A three-member gang, who were 'skimming' ATM cards for the past three years in 14 states were arrested in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore.

Nellore (AP):In a major development, the Nellore police nabbed a three-member inter-state gang, who were involved in the skimming of ATM Cards and had more than 1,000 registered offences against their name, SP Aishwarya Rastogi informed on Friday.

The three-member gang, comprising of Sandeep Kumar, Manjeet and Jagjit, hailing from Haryana's Bhiwandi, were involved in ATM card fraud for the past three years. Police departments of 14 states were in pursuit of the gang.

The trio was arrested from Nellore district's Dargamitta area, after the police kept a close watch on their movements.

Explaining their modus operandi, Rastogi said, "The gang used to target old or uneducated people. On the pretext of helping hem, they would take their ATM cards, and then with the help of a tiny magnetic card reader in their palm, they would transfer all the card details to their mobile phones via bluetooth."

"They would then write all the details onto a new card and would also manage to obtain the victim's PIN number, following which they would draw money and the victim would be clueless," he added.

The trio also had a very lavish lifestyle, Rastogi said, adding that they would travel to new cities to conduct their criminal activities only via flights. Once in a new city, they would rent a car.

The gang, which has over 1,000 offences against their name, carried out as many as 49 ATM offences in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone.

Police also seized from their possession Rs 7 lakh in cash, a number of ATM cards, and various other electronic devices which they used.