Team Herald 

PANJIM: Within six months of issuing guidelines to banks across the State for preventing ATM card skimming, Goa Police – after having failed to get support from the banks – has decided to take up the responsibility to ensure people are not subjected to such fraud. 

In a fresh advisory for the public, the department has urged the public to check for skimming device and ‘pinhole’ camera before proceeding with withdrawing money. A video was broadcast during a press conference on Wednesday wherein police officials demonstrated what to check when a person first arrives at an ATM. The authorities have recommended to tug at the card reader. An authentic card reader should be firm and stay intact on the machine. The police also showed a hidden camera on the machine that thieves use to capture PIN numbers. Director General of Police Muktesh Chander, addressing the press briefing has insisted to look for any kind of hole above the slot machine and cover the keypad while entering the secret PIN. 

“In recent times it has come to the notice that criminals, including some foreign nationals, particularly from Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary are involved in highly technical criminal activities of cloning debit/credit cards in the State of Goa. These accused are stealing the secret data like card details and PIN numbers of various customers by installing skimmers in the ATM machines over the slot meant for inserting the ATM card. The electronic data on the magnetic chip is copied by the skimmers and stored in the memory card attached to it. Simultaneously they install a pinhole camera just above the keyboard of the ATM machine to record the PIN numbers of ATM card. Thereafter, the stolen data is transferred on clone cards one for each customers and pin numbers is written on the backside of the clone card and money is withdrawn using the clone cards,” he said. 

The department has registered 13 cases since January 2018. From interrogation of the accused, Chander said, it has come into light that accused have chosen Goa as it is a popular tourist destination attracting large numbers of Indian and foreign tourists who use debit/credit cards in ATM machines. “In order to ensure effective deterrence to such activities, extra vigil from the common citizens, Police and Banks is required,” he said while slamming the bank officials for not adhering to its guidelines issuing in April. 

“The banks are sometimes not bothered. Even if ATM machine is stolen, they don’t care because it (machines) are insured,” he lamented. On being asked if the bank officials have complied with the police advisory, he pat replied, “Unfortunately, not.”