Accused brought to Mysuru for spot mahazar

Mysore/Mysuru: Three persons, who used to install skimmer equipment in ATMs and siphon off customers’ money have been arrested by Udupi Police. The accused were brought to Mysuru yesterday by the Police, who conducted spot mahazar.

The Cyber Crime Police of Udupi, who brought the three accused to city, took them to Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd. (TMBL) on Narayana Shastry Road and another Bank, where they conducted spot mahazar.

An Udupi-based man, who had come to city on Mar. 21, had withdrawn cash from the ATM next to TMBL on Narayana Shastry Road.  When the man left Mysuru and reached Udupi, he received a message of cash being withdrawn from his account and immediately lodged a complaint with Udupi Police.

The Police, who registered a case, arrested three persons in this regard at Kasargod and interrogated them. All the three accused were later brought to Mysuru and spot mahazar was conducted by the Udupi Police. It is learnt that the accused, who used to manufacture the skimmer equipment at Kasargod and Mangaluru, used to install the equipment at ATMs in Mysuru, Bengaluru, Madikeri, Udupi, Mangaluru and other districts of the State and used to collect every information including the Debit card PIN of customers, who had withdrawn cash from ATMs where these skimmer equipment were installed by sitting in Kasargod, clone the debit cards and siphon off money from various bank accounts.

“We have never seen such a scam in our Bank or ATMs. This is the first time such an incident has taken place. We have provided all information to the Udupi Police and we are co-operating with them,” said Shivu, Manager, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd.