Bank staff uses customer’s credit card to siphon off Rs 10.3 L, held

The accused, S Karthikeyan (28) of Koyambedu, who worked in the Vadapalani branch of HDFC Bank, contacted V Irudhayaraj (53) of Mugalivakkam and told him that his credit card would expire soon and he had to apply for a new card. The latter followed the instructions.

But when the new credit card was delivered home, Karthikeyan waited near the victim’s house and collected the card posing as Irudhayaraj. He then called Irudhayaraj and convinced him into giving the PIN for the new card.

Karthikeyan had allegedly already opened a bank account with forged documents and procured an Electronic Data Capture (EDC) machine, used by businesses to collect payment through credit and debit cards. He used Irudhayaraj’s credit card to swipe Rs 10.30 lakh in two transactions.

Irudhayaraj was shocked when he received a call from the bank informing him that he was about to reach the credit limit of Rs 11 lakh. Based on his complaint, Ambattur cyber cell arrested Karthikeyan, who was remanded in judicial custody. Two EDC machines, seven debit/credit cards and two mobile phones were seized from him. Further investigation is on whether he has cheated anybody else using the same modus operandi.

The cyber cell of Pulianthope police district retrieved 17 stolen mobile phones and arrested Imthiyaz, a 22-year-old from Otteri, who snatched and stole the phones in Pulianthope and St Thomas Mount. Similarly, Anna Nagar cyber cell arrested P Vinoth Alexandar (30) of St Thomas Mount who snatched phones using stolen bikes. Six mobile phones and three two-wheelers were seized from him.