Engineer falls prey to ATM card 'cloning,' goes penniless

"The funds in the bank account of an electrical engineer from the City was almost cleansed off in a span of five days, by a fraudster based in the US. He has been rendered penniless for no fault of his.

Purushottam, 53, a resident of Chikkallasandra, suspects that his ATM card was cloned and used in supermarkets and bars in the US. He has a savings account in the Byrasandra branch of the Bank of Baroda since 1993. 

Purushottam has a debit card and has not activated mobile or internet banking facilities for his account. The debit card is in his possession.

Money emptied

The money in his account was almost emptied in a series of transactions between December 26 and 30. Purushottam had a balance of Rs 50,230 as on December 26.
He claimed that he didn’t make any transaction till December 30. When he tried to draw money thereafter, he was shocked to find that his account had a balance of only Rs 144 and 65 paise.

A detailed bank statement of his account for the said period showed multiple withdrawals each day, including payments made for taxi in San Fransisco, for purchase of pizzas, juice and settling bar and supermarket bills – all in the US, while Purushottam was in the City.

Complaint lodged

Purushottam lodged a complaint with the Tilak Nagar police on Monday night. Police have registered a case of cheating under Section 420 of IPC and under the Information Technology Act, 2000, and are investigating.

He said that he had deposited money with the Bank of Baroda, a nationalised bank, with a lot of trust. But, he was unhappy with the way the bank responded to his predicament, Purushottam added.