BANGALORE: Over 48 cases of ATM thefts have been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station and other police stations in this month so far. Experts are now contemplating about whether ATM skimming has returned to the city with a vengeance. Acting on the basis of a report submitted to the Cyber Crime Department by the National Payments Corporation of India (a wing of the RBI which manages ATMs across the country), the cyber crime police are now investigating the five ATMs that seem to have been compromised in Bangalore.
When questioned about these ATMs, the cyber crime police maintained high confidentiality. “Some customers had sent their complaints to the National Payments Corporation of India and they have now been forwarded to us. There is very little that can be revealed about the ATMs compromised. Customers, however, need to be very alert,” said S Murugan, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Cyber Crime (CID).
Change Passwords
Not just banks, but also the Cyber Crime Department has started encouraging users to keep changing their passwords and secure their accounts. “As soon as customers notice that there is something out of the ordinary at an ATM, or if something is attached at an ATM machine, they should complain. Also when their transaction doesn’t complete after repeated tries, they are advised to press the reset button so that their data is not compromised,” Murugan added.
Meanwhile, banks too are handing out pamphlets to their customers and some have put up notices in bold letters at their respective ATMs. These notices create awareness like ‘Don’t reveal your password’, ‘Change your password frequently’, and other such cautions.