ATM Fraud in India

ATM fraud: 100 more fake credit cards, machine seized

Ahmedabad, March 3: EVEN as the three British nationals arrested in connection with withdrawing lakhs of rupees by using counterfeit credit cards from NRIs accounts of different banks were remanded to police custody till March 9, police seized 100 more fake credit cards and a machine used for making fake credit cards. These were recovered from a dustbin outside their room at the Hotel Pride in upmarket Satellite area where they were staying after their arrival here. This takes the number of cards confiscated from the trio to over 200. However, involvement of any local person as suspected earlier has not been established by the police. An investigating official said that so far no clue about any local person’s involvement has been found. The three were identified as Ketan Shah, Faizul Khan, and Peter Deighan, all British nationals. An inquiry about them revealed that Khan was of Bangladeshi origin and had been involved in counterfeit currency racket in UK and was ordered by court to report to the police every fortnight. Peter was involved in a case of rioting. Shah, however, had no criminal case against him. Meanwhile, British Embassy officials in Delhi as well as the parents of the accused in UK had been informed of their arrest in Ahmedabad. However, no one from their families is reported to have contacted the police. All three are college students studying Business and Economics courses from an institute in London. An investigating official said the three had come to meet a friend in Ahmedabad. However, the accused have not divulged their friend’s identity. “They have not revealed the identity of their friend’’, said PSI J D Purohit of Satellite Police Station. The trio withdrew over Rs 2.75 lakh by using fake credit cards from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of the Bank of India, Centurion Bank and HSBC Bank after their arrival in Ahmedabad on February 26 from London. However, it is not yet known if they withdrew money from ATMs of other banks also. They were to return to London on March 10. The fraud came to light when the ATM machine of HSBC Bank seized six credit cards which belonged to Halifax Bank in UK. This created suspicion in the minds of bank officials who informed the police. On the basis of photographs in the close circuit cameras in HSBC bank’s ATM centre, police searched various hotels and arrested the three from Hotel Pride. A search revealed 115 counterfeit credit cards from their possession, besides the Rs 3 lakh cash they had fraudulently withdrawn from ATMS of various banks.