Scammers tamper with ATM, steal Jharkhand man's card, get caught spending his money

Two men have been arrested in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad for allegedly defrauding a person of Rs 15,000 and using his debit card to purchase jewellery worth Rs 32,800 and footwear worth Rs 2,000.The accused have been identified as Nitish Kumar, 26, and Saurabh Kumar, 24 – both from Bihar’s Nawada district. They allegedly tampered with an ATM, which was later used by the card user.According to the police, the duo trapped the man's debit card in the machine, learnt his PIN under the pretext of helping him, and eventually fled with the card.The police have said that the two accused used the modus operandi to dupe other people in the past as well. They would allegedly mislead their unsuspecting targets by directing them to incorrect helpline numbers before taking the cards without their knowledge and using them to withdraw money or make purchases.In this particular case, the complainant's ATM card got stuck in the machine in the middle of the transaction. One of the accused, who was standing behind him, allegedly offered help and advised him to enter his PIN again, observing the confidential number in the process.However, the card remained stuck in the machine.The complainant was then tricked into leaving the scene for a short while.When he returned to the ATM, he discovered that his card was missing.SCAMMERS CAUGHT SPLURGING ON JEWELLERY, FOOTWEARSoon after losing his card, the complainant received a message informing him that Rs 15,000 had been withdrawn from his bank account.Following this, he received another transaction alert showing a purchase worth Rs 32,800 at a jewellery store.The debit card owner, accompanied by acquaintances, rushed to the jewellery store.On making enquiries, he learnt that two men had already made a purchase and left.Meanwhile, another transaction alert showed a payment of Rs 2,000 at a Bata India store.The complainant and his acquaintances then reached the location of the footwear store, where they spotted the accused and caught them while they were headed to another ATM kiosk.The alleged scammers were subsequently handed over to the police.Officials said a case dating back to 2023 is already registered against Nitish at the cyber crime police station in Deoghar district.Three pairs of slippers brought from the store were recovered from their possession, per the police.Dhanbad City SP Ritwik Srivastava said investigators were questioning both men to determine how many people they had allegedly defrauded and whether they were part of a larger gang.The police also urged ATM users to remain cautious while withdrawing money, avoid sharing their PINs with strangers and contact their banks through official channels if a card gets stuck in the machine, in order to prevent such instances of fraud.- Ends(Based on inputs from Sithun Modak)