Man arrested for cheating ATM users in Delhi

New Delhi: The Delhi Police have arrested a fraudster who allegedly targeted less educated people in the suburbs and cloned their ATM (automated teller machine) cards to withdraw money.

Arrested on July 7, accused Esha Khan was remanded to judicial custody on Saturday. Accused in three similar cases, Khan was earlier arrested in Sangam Vihar in 2018, the police said.

Khan, a labourer, was addicted to alcohol, smoking and expensive lifestyle. To support his desires, he started cheating people by withdrawing money from their accounts via ATMs. 

According to Chinmoy Biswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East), Khan would search for areas populated by less educated people and ATMs without guards or a non-functioning ATM. 

He would wait for his target, enter the ATM cubicle along with the victim and would skilfully note down the four-digit PIN (personal identification number) entered by him/her. 

As the transaction would not be complete, he would persuade the victim to let him try on his/her behalf. Khan would meanwhile engage the target in conversation and replace the ATM card with a fake one, Biswal said. 

As many as 20 ATM cards along with cash were seized from him, he said.