ATM thieves perfect a new method to steal cash

Mysterious ATM thieves, who steal money from ATM kiosks without breaking them, are back in business.

Cottonpet police are searching for two of them who robbed an ATM kiosk on Monday by flipping off the power supply to the machine.

Following a complaint filed by Hitesh Rao, SBI ATM channel manager, police have registered a case of theft and cheating against two unknown people. They are also collecting the CCTV footage from the cameras to nab them.

Rao said in his complaint that Krishna Kumar, the security guard at the ATM kiosk on Cottonpet Main Road, had informed him about the theft. When he visited the kiosk, he found that two men had inserted the card and one of them had snapped power supply when the machine dispensed cash while his companion held on to the cash.

In December, the Yeshwantpur police had arrested two men who used the same modus operandi to steal cash from ATM kiosks. They operate the machine with a legitimate card and wait until the machine dispensed the amount.

“At that time, one of them would hold on to the cash so that it wouldn’t go back (into the machine), while his companion would yank off the plug from the power socket. They’d also register a complaint with the bank customer care saying the ATM failed to issue cash due to power failure,” said a police official.

“Later, they’d contact the bank saying the amount had been deducted from their account though they didn’t receive the money and make the bank deposit the amount to their account,” the official said.

Police are trying to track down the men from the account number they had used to commit fraud. The bank officials are yet to ascertain the total amount withdrawn through the fraudulent method.