Romanian held for ATM fraud

TT, 10 Dec 2019, Lalbazar: A Romanian was arrested in Delhi on Monday in connection with the ATM fraud that has affected at least 70 people in Calcutta. Officers said a team from the detective department of the city police that had been camping in Delhi since December 2 rounded up Siliviu Florin Spiridon, 28, a resident of Constanta in Romania, from Greater Kailash. At least 70 Calcuttans have reported to the police that they have lost Rs 14 lakh in fraudulent withdrawal from ATMs in Delhi. The bulk of the complaints have been lodged with Jadavpur police station. An investigation by the police has revealed that most of the victims had withdrawn money from one of the two ATMs of a nationalised bank in south Calcutta -- one in Jadavpur's Sulekha and the other in the Charu Market area.

The police suspect the fraudsters had stolen ATM card data of the victims by installing skimmers in ATMs and used the data to clone cards, with which they withdrew money from ATMs in Delhi.

"The accused had turned up at one of the ATMs in south Delhi apparently to withdraw money. Our officers were maintaining vigil since fraudulent withdrawals from the accounts of many victims had taken place there," an officer said. "As the Romanian entered the kiosk, he sensed he was under watch and ran outThe man disappeared in one of the bylanes. The cops on his trail asked around for a foreigner and identified a building where they learnt a Romanian had been staying on rent. Spiridon was allegedly packing his bags when the cops raided the house.

"He had realised that he had been spotted and was about to leave," the officer said. "The accused was stay- ing there as a member of an international flight crewThe police said they had identified at least two more Romanians who were part of the gang that had robbed the Calcuttans.

Sources said the sleuths were yet to learn whether the Romanians had any partners in Calcutta who had helped them steal the ATM card details.

"The accused came to Calcutta thrice over the past few months. We are trying to find out whether he has any associate here," said the officer.

The cops were also trying to find out whether Spiridon was part of the gang that had cheated over 100 Calcuttans last year using the same strategy.

"A large quality of magnetic strips that are used in cloned cards, blank cards, pin hole cameras that are installed above keyboards and skimmers were found in possession of the arrested Romanian," said joint commissioner (crime) Murlidhar Sharma..