Hacking case: `Skimming device attached to Colaba ATM in May`

Police investigating Axis Bank accounts hacking case said "skimming" device was attached to ATM in Colaba, which was used by scamsters to clone debit cards of police personnel to defraud them.

Mumbai: Police investigating the Axis Bank accounts hacking case on Saturday claimed to have found out when a "skimming" device was attached to the ATM in Colaba, which was allegedly used by scamsters to clone debit cards of police personnel to defraud them. "We are searching the CCTV footages. It seems that the skimming device was attached to the ATM between May 7 and May 29 and we are searching the footages accordingly," a police official said.

Sources said since police knew when the ATM was bugged, they could now fast track investigations in the case in which a total of 29 Axis Bank accounts, including 12 operated by Mumbai policemen, have been hacked in the last two months and Rs 13 lakh withdrawn through ATMs in Greece. They said the ATM is located near the police headquarters in South Mumbai. Some of the policemen in the city had received SMS messages that cash has been withdrawn from their Axis bank accounts in euro currency, they said. In order to cross check the fraud perpetrated on them, the policemen immediately visited nearest ATM centres and found to their surprise that cash had indeed been withdrawn from their accounts. The accounts were hacked during April and May, police said, adding that Axis Bank had contacted Mumbai police and informed them that they had set up a committee to probe the matter. According to DCP Satyanarayan Choudhari, the amount withdrawn from the bank accounts of policemen was not immediately known. However, later, police got information that the cyber fraudsters had withdrawn Rs 13 lakh from these 29 bank accounts which had been hacked. Police claimed that the debit cards have been cloned and the withdrawal was done in Greece. They said an FIR will be lodged soon in this connection. Axis Bank had said it compensated all the affected customers and launched a full-scale investigation. PTI