Be careful when you use your credit or ATM card at a petrol pump. When it comes to the ATM or Credit card cloning in Chandigarh, consumers who use their ATM cards at petrol pumps in the city are the prime targets. This came out during the interrogation of two accused in police custody for card cloning.
Rajesh Kalia, DSP/Cyber crime cell of Chandigarh Police said said, “During police remand with the accused couple held for ATM card cloning case by UT police, Mukul Garg and Ramandeep Kaur had admitted that they targeted consumers at various places to make a clone of their ATM cards, however the consumers at petrol pump were on the top priority.” The DSP said UT police has raided two petrol pumps in Chandigarh and Panchkula whose employees were allegedly in possession of magnetic card readers, which were used to clone ATM cards of customers who came to refill their fuel. However both employees, Rajesh Kumar and Rahul are absconding.
UT police, with the arrest of the duo have solved more than 21 cases of ATM card cloning. In most of the solved cases, the duped persons had claimed that they used their ATM at a petrol pump the last time before bogus transactions were made on their cards.
Official records said in 2013, more than 75 cases of ATM card cloning were registered at various police stations in Chandigarh. In April, Kapil Dev, a resident of Sector-40, complained to UT police regarding the misuse of his ATM card by someone in Delhi, despite the fact that his card was in his possession in Chandigarh.
During further investigation in the case by UT police, it came to light that Kapil’s ATM card was cloned after he used his ATM card at a petrol pump in the city. Maneesh Chaudhary, SP, Security and Traffic said, “Consumers should ask shopkeepers to swap their ATM cards in their presence. If the shopkeeper is swapping their card in two different machines, it can be a fraud, he warned.”