Two held for duping people in ATM booth

On June 14, Ataur Rahman, a retired private company employee, accompanied his wife to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for tumour operation.

As he was short on cash, he went to the ATM booth of a private bank around 2:15pm. Once inside, Ataur found a person trying to withdraw money.

When Ataur's turn came, that person approached him and offered help. Already tense about his wife's situation, Ataur agreed.

However, in reality, he replaced Ataur's ATM card with a fake one.

When Ataur inserted the fake card into the ATM, it was captured. He then came outside and tried to withdraw cash through other means.

However, he soon received five messages on his phone showing that Tk 1,00,000 was withdrawn from his account, according to the complaint filed with Shahbagh Police Station.

The Cyber and Special Crime Unit of Detective Branch (DB) of police believes Ataur was a victim of an organised gang that embezzles huge sums of money from elderly people and women, by replacing their cards with fake ones.

One Sohidul Islam alias Sahid is the ringleader of the gang. To escape law enforcers' eyes, he only stays in hotels.

While conducting a drive in a residential hotel in the capital on Wednesday, detectives arrested Sahid and his associate Mamun Matubbor, a tea vendor.

Harun Or Rashid, additional commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the duo has been involved in this scam since 2015. Previously, Sahid was arrested four times, but managed to secure bail and went back to his old ways, he said.

Usually, he tricks 5-6 individuals and embezzles Tk 2-3 lakh monthly on average, said the DB chief.

Junaed Alam Sarker, additional deputy commissioner of DB police, told The Daily Star that the gang mainly targets ATMs where guards remain absent or inattentive. Sahid's associates also keep an eye outside the booth.

When asked how Shahid gets the victim's PIN, Junaed said Shahid memorised it by watching the finger movement when the account holder attempts to withdraw money.

Umma Atia, a doctor at Dhaka Medical College Hospital was another victim of this gang.

Speaking with The Daily Star yesterday, she said she went to a booth in the Dhaka University area and found another person inside.

"I put my card inside the machine and tried to enter my PIN, but the machine rejected it. Then the person came forward and offered help. When I agreed, he changed the card. I inserted the alternative card given by the person and it was captured," she said.

"Moments later, I found three notifications that Tk 50,000 was withdrawn from my account," she added.