Software firm MD’s credit card skimmed

A Pune based Nitin Vasant Shimpi (42) has become the victim of online fraud. He reportedly told the bank authorities that Rs 93,737 worth of purchase had been made in July last year in his credit card in faraway Italy.

The most shocking part was that the credit card in question is with Shimpi and when the purchasing was done, he was in India. Shimpi a resident of Pallod Farms in Baner, has got the complaint registered in this regard with the Deccan Gymkhana police station.

Sub-inspector R D Patil of the Deccan Gymkhana police told, "It has been suspected the unidentified persons must have stolen the details of the credit card issued to Shimpi by the Axis Bank."

Patil notified that the suspect might have made a duplicate card by using the details, such as credit card number and card verification value number and made the purchases in Italy.

Shimpi, a managing director in a software firm located at Baner road got to know about the fraud when he received a call from the bank on July 25 asking him whether he had done purchasing worth Rs 93,737 in Italy.

Shimpi told TOI, "After seeing the transactions on my card, the bank officials got suspicious and informed me immediately. When I denied making any purchased in Italy, they blocked the card for safety purposes".

He pointed out that when he went to the bank to enquire about the purchases, the bank officials told him that the card was used at various shops and malls in Italy. On getting this confirmation, Shimpi filed a complaint with the Deccan Gymkhana police. "I don't know who and how my card was used in Italy," Shimpi said.

However a few incidents have been reported in the city where suspects used skimming (theft of credit card information used in an otherwise legitimate transaction) to steal credit card details, which have been later used to prepare duplicate and fake cards. The police informed, “The crime branch sleuths some months ago had nabbed a cashier of a five star hotel in the city who used to steal credit cards details of the customers in the hotel and prepare fake cards.”

Credit card fraudsters arrested in New Delhi

In New Delhi a crime branch team arrested three persons who had cheated banks by obtaining credit cards using fake documents. Police told the three accused were Mohammad Naushad of Haulambi Kalan, Mohammad Nadeem and Junaid of DDA Flats had duped banks of around Rs 30 lakh using the credit cards issued to them.

Neeraj Thakur, DCP (crime and railways) said, "Posing as traders, they also managed to procured an EDC machine used to swipe cards during shopping and used it to make purchases.''

On receiving the complaint of fraudulent use of credit cards, a team led by ACP Sanjay Tyagi caught Naushad in Inderlok area on January 20. On interrogation he revealed that he had procured the credit card using a fake PAN card. Cops told Naushad owns a pan shop in the Inderlok while Nadeem has a garments shop.

Thakur informed, "The three opened a shop in partnership and got an EDC machine from a private Bank. They applied for and got a number of credit cards from different banks on the basis of fake identities. We recovered two PAN cards, seven credit cards, six debit cards and 12 cheque books of different banks from the accused.''