HYDERABAD: A three-member inter-State gang involved in ATM fraud and cheating banks was arrested by the Hyderabad city police on Monday. The gang would tamper with ATMs in a way to create a technical issue at the time of dispensing cash. Despite the machine dispensing cash, they would complain that they had not received cash due to a technical error and raise grievances with the bank complaining of failed transactions.
Taking advantage of the Banking Ombudsman guidelines that the bank has to pay the amount in cases of failed transactions at ATMs, the accused cheated banks and claimed money from them. The accused Mohd Iqbal, Mohd Salaim and Ansari, belong to the Haryana-based notorious Mewat gang. They were involved in four cases in different parts of the city, said Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar. The accused elected big cities and chose unmanned ATMs.
Usually, two of them would enter an ATM. One of the accused would operate the ATM by using a debit card, and the other person would tamper with the machine to create a technical error with some tool and take the cash from the dispenser. They would then pretend that the cash was not dispensed and lodge a complaint via the toll-free number. The bank on verification would also find that the transaction failed due to a technical error. Based on complaints, the Task Force sleuths nabbed the trio and recovered cash, debit cards and some tools.