A helping hand, however much you may need at other times, is best avoided in ATM kiosks. Mangala, 22, a resident of Manjunatha Nagar in Bagalagunte, learnt this at her own peril. On November 15, a man helped her withdraw money from an ATM. She later discovered Rs 22,000 drained from the account and the ATM card exchanged.
Mangala had been to a State Bank of India ATM kiosk in the neighbourhood at around 10.30 am. Her mother was to be admitted to a hospital and Mangala was told to withdraw cash from her mother’s account. Due to a glitch, she was unable to withdraw the money and had to try twice. Before the third attempt, a man who was outside the kiosk entered to offer his help. He asked for the ATM card and the PIN and succeeded in withdrawing Rs 10,000. He gave the cash and debit card to Mangala, who counted the money and went home.
The account was linked to her father Gangaiah’s mobile number. Before Mangala reached home, he got three messages for debit.
One was for Rs 10,000 that Mangala was supposed to withdraw. The others were for Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000, transferred to an unknown account. When Mangala returned home Gangaiah asked her why she transferred Rs 22,000.
They soon figured that the man had pulled a fast one and rushed to the ATM kiosk. But he was not to be found. When they checked with the bank, they learnt that the money was transferred to an account held by an individual called Ramesh and the debit card with Mangala did not belong to her mother.
An investigating officer from Bagalagunte police station said, “We have taken up the case under Information Technology Act based on the complaint filed by Mangala. The miscreant seems to have a bunch of duplicate or deactivated cards. He observes people having difficulty withdrawing money and uses a card that looks similar when he offers ‘help’. He exchanges the cards while returning them. We are going to analyse the CCTV footage to ascertain the details of the miscreant. We have asked the bank for details of the account held by Ramesh.”
Past incidents
On September 20, Raju SL, a clerk in the Agriculture Department, lost Rs 45,000 to the conman. A stranger offered his help at an Axis Bank ATM kiosk on Mysore Road. He withdrew Rs 5,000, handed Raju his debit card and walked off claiming he would use the next kiosk as the system was slow. Before Raju figured out that his debit card has been swapped, Rs 45,000 was debited from his account.
On September 21, Sathya Kumar, a resident of Mico Layout fell prey to the same trick when a stranger said he was getting delayed and ‘helped’ Kumar withdraw Rs 5,000 from his wife’s account at an ATM kiosk in Chandra Layout. The man swapped the debit card and drained Rs 40,000 from the account.