Picture used for representational purpose only

MUMBAI: Debit card details of at least 50 bank customers who withdrew money from a Bandra (W) ATM on May29 and May 30 were saved when police arrested two Romanians who had installed a skimming machine and hidden camera at the kiosk for over 36 hours.

Pethyu George Jiji (51) and Nedesco Yaun Yanoon (36) were arrested around 10.30pm on May 30 when they returned to the IDBI Bank ATM kiosk on Waterfield Road to remove the skimmer. Police have recovered the skimmer, a skimmer reader, a card cloning device and a camera from the duo apart from the skimmer they had installed at the ATM. Police said they will send the second skimmer to forensic lab to find out data of how many other ATM users have been stolen.

Sources said Bandra police laid a trap after the bank alerted them about the possibility of a skimmer being installed at their ATM kiosk on May 29 morning. “The bank got suspicious and informed us when they noticed a man entering the kiosk and fiddling with the machine which was captured on the CCTV camera. The man, who had covered his face with handkerchief, installed a thin plate inside the ATM slot where the card is inserted,” said an officer from Bandra police.

Consequently, a team formed by additional commissioner of police (West region) Manoj Sharma kept a watch on the ATM kiosk. “After installing the skimmer, the fraudsters leave it there for at least 15 hours to get data of maximum customers,” said an officer.

Bank officials identified one of the two Romanians whose image was captured on the CCTV camera, police officer said, adding that the duo has been living in Mumbai for two months. The investigators are collecting details from the hotels where they lived.

When the police team questioned the duo, they gave evasive replies, said an officer.

“The accused did not speak in English. Finally they started to speak after we seized the skimmer, ATM cloning device, card reader and camera. They are a part of a gang of Romanian nationals who have been caught across India in the last few months for stealing card data by fitting skimmer in ATMs,” said the officer.

The duo has been booked under IPC sections 34 (common intention), 379 (theft) and IT Act sections 43 (introduces or causes to be introduced any computer contaminant or computer virus into any computer network), 66 (deceive or mislead the recipient), 66 (C) (identity theft) and 66 (D) (cheating by personation by using computer resource). They are in police custody till June 4.

