Three held for ATM skimmer theft in Kozhikode

KOZHIKODE: Three persons were arrested by the police in the ATM skimmer theft in Kozhikode, when they re-appeared in the city on Sunday. The accused have been identified as Nauman alias Ramees, KS Abdulla Road, Chattamkuzhi, Parakkettu, Muhammed Bilal alias Billu, Bilal Bagh house, Ramdas Nagar (both of them from Kasargod) and Hameeda Shajahan, Mattanchery, Ernakulam. All of them have been remanded.

The police recovered Rs 1.75 lakh, the skimmer, MSR, 10 mobile phones and a hidden camera. They also took two others who were being trained to do the same kind of fraud, into custody. Their personal details have not been revealed till now. The theft took place on January 7 and 8 in various ATMs of the Punjab National Bank in the city. A total of Rs 1,41,900 was lost in the fraud, according to police.

The accused who masterminded the theft had installed skimmers on the card swiping slot of the ATM machines and recorded the pin number using a small camera, according to the police. The data on the chip of the skimmer was later transferred to their computers. After collecting the data from the ATM counters, the accused went to Pichannur near Coimbatore and withdrew the money using fake ATM cards.