Two thieves arrested, police issues ATM advisory

SHILLONG, MAY 24: The city police have issued advisory to the ATM users who frequents the ATM booths after it arrested two of the three Assam based ATM thieves operating in Shillong city on Friday
Additional Superintendent of Police Vivek Syiem informed on Friday the police nabbed Ranjit Medi Giri and Biju Singh of Pandu, Guwahati in Assam from Jaiaw Pdeng even as another member of the gang manage to give the police a slip.
Investigation revealed that the gang targeted vulnerable and ignorant ATM customers.
Syiem said that the thieves used three modus operandi for committing crime saying, “Firstly, they would either steal, pick pocketing or commit burglary and steal the ATM cards as usually the pin code is written at the back of the ATM card.” He said the negligence of the ATM holders in keeping their pin code secret make the task of stealing from their account that much easier.
The second method used by the gang is by disabling the keypad on the ATM machine so that when customers swipe their cards it will not work. This is the time when the first member of the gang who pretended to be as a customer comes in with a request “can I help you”, Vivek said adding the third method is to spy on pin code number by observing fingers on the keypad while the customer is unaware.
Vivek also said, there are two types of ATMs – the blue screen and non – blue screen, the non – blue screen are more vulnerable as money can be taken out any time.
Cautioning the public, Vivek said, “We advise the customers to keep their pin code secret and not to write it on ATM card. The customer should be alert and not to give their ATM card to any unknown person if they encounter any problem with the machine.” –By Our Reporter