Chennai: A skimming device was found in an ATM belonging to State Bank of India on Constable Road in Aynavaram. The skimmer, which was fixed on the card slot of the teller machine, came off when a customer pulled it after he grew suspicious about it.
Police said Gopi Krishnan, 45, who works in a private company, was using the ATM on Wednesday morning.
His card got stuck in the machine’s card slot. When he pulled it with force, a tiny device tumbled out of it. He immediately alerted the bank authorities, who in turn informed the police.
The bank authorities arrived at the spot and confirmed the device as a skimmer and they also found a micro camera in the ATM kiosk to capture the pin number entered by the cardholder.
The skimmer device was capable of capturing card details, including the PIN, through a sensor panel when a customer uses the ATM.
The Aynavaram police said the skimmer might have been installed two days ago, as the ATM cash refillers did not find the device when they filled the ATM machine with cash on Monday evening.
The police retrieved video footage which showed two men fixing the skimmer on the card slot of the teller machine on Monday evening on the pretext of withdrawing cash. The police are yet to confirm the identity of the men.
Police said fraudsters generally clone the original debit cards by copying their details onto blank magnetic cards using a writer.
“ATM users should inspect card slots for suspicious objects and change the PIN of their bank cards at frequent intervals,” an officer said. The Central Crime Branch police are investigating the case.
Police seized the skimmer device and the micro camera. Investigations are on.
