NT NETWORK
PANAJI
The cyber crime police have arrested three persons and seized two debit/credit card skimmers, which look similar to a Point of Sale (PoS) machine, during a raid conducted in Calangute on Saturday.
The accused have been identified as Ramesh Chauhan (46), Alihusain and Abhishek Singh (29), all from Agra in Uttar Pradesh.
Chauhan was residing in Calangute since the last couple of years, while the other two accused had arrived in the state on December 1. Police suspect that more persons could be involved in the crime and are verifying whether the accused had installed such devices in business establishments in the state.
Police have attached two skimmers, a laptop, four mobile phones, two pen drives, seven debit cards and other articles. The skimmers look similar to a genuine PoS terminal (credit/debit card swiping machine) and can easily deceive a layperson.
According to information received, the accused were nabbed in Calangute when they were looking for prospective outlets to install the skimmers. Cyber crime police received a tip-off from Deputy Superintendent, Porvorim, Nelson Albuquerque and were assisted by Calangute police personnel during the raid.
The raid was conducted by cyber crime team headed by police inspector Rajesh Job under the supervision of Albuquerque and Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) V Gupta.
One skimmer was found in the possession of the accused, while the other was recovered from an outlet in Calangute where it was installed, police said and added that they are looking into the role of the shop owner.
Explaining the modus operandi, police said that the accused would approach business establishments through a middleman for installing the skimmers. For every transaction, the shop owner was paid a certain amount.
According to the police, once a debit/credit card is swiped and the relevant amount and password entered, the machine displays an error. The machine, by then copies the password and the data from the card’s magnetic strip. This data is later used by the accused to make duplicate cards. Claiming that the machine is out of order, a genuine machine (PoS terminal) is used to carry out the transaction.
In connection with the case, the cyber crime police station has registered an offence under Section 420 r/w 34 IPC and 66 of IT Act. Job is further investigating the case.