Maha: Four held for using fake cards to steal from bank accounts

The Mumbai police have arrestedfour persons from suburban Andheri, who were allegedlyinvolved in stealing money from people's bank accounts usingfake debit and credit cards, an official said on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, the police laid a trap onWednesday and apprehended three persons with a skimmer, ninecards with magnetic strip, seven debit cards, three mobilephones and Rs 27,000 cash, the official said.

On interrogation, the police also got an informationabout the main accused, who was subsequently nabbed, he said.

The fraud and thefts came to light when the deputymanager (risk intelligence and control) of a prominent banklodged a complaint that some persons had withdrawn money fromcustomers' accounts with fake debit and credit cards betweenNovember 2020 and January 2021, he said.

According to the complaint, bank customers were notreceiving OTPs, but money used to get deducted from theiraccounts, he said.

Following this, an FIR was registered at MIDC policestation against an unidentified person, he said.

A probe revealed that many transactions were carriedout with debit and credit cards and most of them from a hotelat Mahakali Caves in Andheri East, he said.

The accused, who are in their 20s, had been involvedin such activities since the last six months and had cheatedmany customers of lakhs, he said.

Similar offences had been registered against the mainaccused of the gang at Oshiwara and Kherwadi earlier, he said.

The gang members were also seen in CCTV footages fromATM centres at Pune and Satara, he said.

The accused have been remanded to police custody tillSaturday, the official said, adding that further probe isunderway.