KOCHI: After a lull, ATM fraud has made a comeback as money was stolen by tampering with multiple machines of the South Indian Bank in Ernakulam district. The Kochi City Police, however, arrested the accused —Mubarak Ibarat, 42, an Uttar Pradesh native — within hours of registering a case on Friday.
After his image was passed to all informers, a police officer saw him travelling on a bus at Edappally.
A police team promptly blocked the bus. Though Mubarak attempted to escape, the officers nabbed him and took him to the Kalamassery station for interrogation. A limp on his left leg aided the police to confirm his identity, an officer said.
To get money, Mubarak would insert a flexible black-coloured material — apparently made of rubber or resin — into the cash-vending part of the ATM before the customer accessed the machine.“After entering their PIN and specifying the cash required, the customers failed to receive money though their transactions were seen to be completed. Once the customers come out of the ATM cabin, Mubarak would take out the cash after removing the ‘tool’ from the cash-vending part of the machine,” said P V Baby, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikakkara.
The incident came to light after a few customers complained of money being deducted from failed transactions at ATMs recently. CCTV footage revealed the fraud, the officer said. On August 19, a theft was reported at the South Indian Bank ATM near the Premier Junction in Kalamassery.
Based on a complaint lodged by SIB assistant manager Chinju Poulose, the police launched a probe on Thursday night. At Kalamassery, `25,000 was stolen after tampering with machines when seven transactions were made on August 18 and August 19. The police have found that Mubarak attempted similar thefts at 11 SIB ATMs.
“He claims to have made around 140 attempts of successful and unsuccessful ATM transaction frauds in Kochi. He came to the city on August 17 after travelling across the country. He committed similar thefts in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Chennai and Coimbatore,” Baby said. Mubarak will be produced before the magistrate court on Saturday. The police will seek his custody as a detailed probe is required. “First, we have to receive precise information from the bank on the number of persons who have lost cash in this fashion,” said a police officer.
Learnt theft method by searching web
Mubarak Ibarat, the Uttar Pradesh native arrested for ATM fraud, has studied only till Class III but managed to find loopholes in the operation of ATM machines to steal money, much to the surprise of the police. The interrogation has revealed that he was arrested for similar thefts before in UP.
Growing up, he worked as a driver. But an accident left him with a limp on a leg and he could not drive any more. Thereafter, he befriended a person named Mukesh Tiwari who was into ATM thefts. The two were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police in an ATM theft case. After release from jail, they separated and Mubarak carried out ATM thefts alone, an officer said.
“He searched the internet to study the operations of ATMs, and learnt about the ATMs installed by the South Indian Bank and the One India bank. He was targeting these banks as the rubber-made material, which he inserted in the cash-dispensing part of the machines, fitted only their ATMs. He claims to have learnt how to insert the flexible strip in the ATM from the internet,” the officer said.
SAFETY TIPS AT ATM
Always look for any suspicious external devices including spy cameras installed on the machines, which are often used by fraudsters to steal money. Card skimming is a common method adopted by ATM fraudsters
If the transaction is not completed or is delayed, always close the transaction by pressing the cancel button
Always check SMS to know whether the amount has been deducted from the account
If an amount is deducted in an incomplete transaction, call the customer care centre of the respective bank and report the matter
Do not share your ATM PIN with anyone
Do not write the PIN on the debit card
Do not let an unknown person enter the ATM when a transaction is being carried out