Sahaya Novinston Lobo By Express News Service CHENNAI: City police have asked public to be watchful while using ATM machines as a customer recently found a data skimmer and micro camera installed at a kiosk in Ayanavaram. He alerted the bank officials and police, who removed the devices. The bank fraud wing of Central Crime Branch has launched a hunt for the suspects. Police say 45-year-old R Gopi Krishna went to an SBI ATM on Constable Road Tuesday night. “His ATM card got stuck in the machine. When he tried to pull it out, the skimmer got dislodged,” said assistant commissioner Balamurugan. “Realising there should be a camera, he looked around and found a small metallic strip above the keypad and a micro camera attached to it.” amit bandre HOW THEY WORK Skimmer is a small device which, when installed over an ATM card slot, can record secret details coded in the magnetic strip of cards. The camera, meanwhile, will record the user’s PIN when they enter it to withdraw cash. “Skimmer machines record ATM card details as binary codes,” says an official from the bank fraud division. “The information is stored along with the time when the card was inserted. Later, the criminals return to the ATM centre and collect the skimmer and camera. They run the data through a software which will decode the card number and other details. They will get the corresponding PIN from video recordings,” the official added. BIG RACKET? Police say that usually, a group of techies are involved in the next stages, producing more duplicate cards. The network is usually big and the person making the card would seldom know the person withdrawing cash. If the card has interna tional access, it will be sent to other countries where they have members of the racket. Cards that do not have international access is used in other cities are States. In most such cases, an official said, cards are used by criminals from other States. “They ensure to do it this way because it increases the response time of customers and banks. By the time a customer realises he has lost money, lodges complaint, and the bank seeks permission from other banks in other states to get details of those who accessed the card, it’s too late.” Officials say criminals usually target ATM kiosks which do not have a fulltime security personnel. They note the type of machine used and make specific skimmers and cameras. “It takes them not more than 10 seconds to install the devices.” Officials are now scanning CCTV visuals recorded over the last one month to identify the culprits. FIR against cop for trying to coerce woman Chennai: An FIR has been filed against a police constable for allegedly trying to force a woman to marry him. The victim, working as a nurse in a government hospital, was in a relationship with the police constable, Vignesh. “Both the families opposed the relationship and the duo decided to part ways. However, Vignesh contacted the victim again and threatened her to marry him,” said an officer. Dad ‘attacks’ youth over girl’s love affair Chennai: The Ambattur police have arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly attacking a youngster with a knife after the latter refused to marry his daughter after living with her for over three months. While the accused Sakthivel has been remanded in judicial custody, the victim, D Lawrence (25) has been admitted at a private hospital.

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