MUMBAI: Bank account holders in Nalasopara are waking up to debit card cloning in the past few days, with over 50 customers losing around Rs 10 lakh to the fraud.

Nalasopara police in the west and Tuling police station in the east have registered cases of skimming (card cloning) between August 2 to 8. In most cases, victims received SMSes of cash withdrawals though they didn't withdraw money from an ATM and had their cards with them. While cases under section 420 (cheating) of the IPC and sections 65(d) and 66(k) of the Information Technology Act have been registered against unknown persons, police suspect the withdrawals were done from outside Maharashtra.

In Nalasopara, on August 4, businessman Ravindra Dhimre (51) was woken up by an SMS at midnight. He was shocked to learn Rs 70,000 was withdrawn from his Union Bank account. Dhimre rushed to look for his debit card which he found was intact in his wallet. Dhimre then approached the police.

In the next few days, around 40 victims approached police with similar complaints, with cash involved varying from Rs 7,000 to Rs 70,000. The total amount lost to skimming so far in Nalasopara (West) alone is to Rs 8.01lakh.

In Nalasopara (East), a 46-year-old man lost Rs 20,000 to skimming. The victim received an SMS of the withdrawal.He was in possession of his debit card and had not made any withdrawals in the past few days. Investigating officer N K Patil said so far around 15 victims have approached the police, adding most victims lost money between August 2 to 8.

See the original post here:

Over 50 Nalasopara residents lose Rs 10 lakh to debit card cloning - Times of India