Man tampers with ATM in Mumbai, sets off alarm in Hyderabad – Times of India

MUMBAI: Gamdevi police on Monday arrested a Haryana resident, Shareef Ansari, for allegedly tampering with an ATM of a public sector bank at Mumbai Central to steal cash. His attempt failed since the alarm went off.
Ansari, told police that he had seen several YouTube videos on how to withdraw money from an ATM and the transaction would not be registered in the banking system. He would then complain to the bank that money had been deducted from his account though the transaction had failed, and demand his money back.
Ansari also told police his interrogators that 10-15 people from his village use the same modus operandi. Police have recovered 10 debit cards from him.
“The offence took place on Sunday when the bank was shut. The accused entered the ATM kiosk, put in his card and then tampered with the machine. When the alarm rang, he panicked and fled,” said Dattaram Girap, senior inspector of Gamdevi police station. At the same time, an alarm went off at the bank’s Hyderabad-based IT department, where the server is located. They immediately alerted the Mumbai police control room and a Gamdevi police team was directed to the spot. Police found that an ATM had been tampered with.
Assistant police inspector Shrinivas Darade, who led the investigation, said, “We collected the CCTV footage of the ATM kiosk and took pictures of the suspect. We scanned 135 CCTV grabs and found that he had taken a taxi and got off near Mumbai Central railway station. We then got a lead that he was staying in a lodge.”
A police team reached the lodge and learnt that the suspect had checked in on January 7. Police collected his Aadhaar card details and mobile number and later detained him.
“During interrogation, Ansari said he had seen YouTube videos on how to dodge the ATM software and that 10-15 people from his village use the modus operandi to steal cash from machines,” said a police officer.
“He would insert a debit card, use a duplicate key to open the ATM and at the same time press buttons to withdraw money. While the cash dispensation process would be on, he would tamper with the machine so that it would show that the transaction had failed. He even as the notes would reach the dispensation slot. Ansari said he would later go to the bank and complain that though the transaction had failed, money was deducted from his account and demanded his money back,” the officer said.
Ansari told police that he has, in the past, tampered with ATMs in Borivli, Dadar, Colaba, V P Road, D B Marg, Gamdevi, Malabar Hill, and Mumbai Central.
Cops are now checking with other police stations if similar offences were registered there.