Saturday September 18, 2010
Hunt for three ATM cheats
KLUANG: Police here are on the lookout for three men, including one believed to be from South America, preying on people withdrawing money from ATMs. Kluang OCPD Asst Comm Fawzi Arshad said the culprits would surround their victims while they were withdrawing cash from ATMs before striking.
“Most of the time, the victim is alone at the ATM. While waiting for the cash to be dispensed by the machine, the culprit behind would drop some bank notes onto the floor and tap the victim on the shoulder as a distraction. “Another culprit will then quickly swipe the victims’ ATM card with a fake one while another memorises the pin number,” he said.
ACP Fawzi said once the victim had left with the fake ATM card, the suspects would use the original to make cash withdrawals, adding that the police had received six reports against the syndicate. He said all the victims involved had identified one of the suspects to be from South America while two others were believed to be locals.
“The police have images of the suspects captured through the CCTVs installed at ATMs and we are tracking them down,” he said. ACP Fawzi urged those making ATM withdrawals to avoid being alone and to be wary of their surroundings. On another matter, he cautioned people against befriending those they met on social networking sites on the Internet, such as Facebook.
