Thief buys new clothes, food and booze with stolen ATM card

CHENNAI: Food, clothes and shelter are said to be man’s basic needs. An unidentified person who stole an ATM card took care of the first two needs and washed the luck down with some booze from the local Tasmac.

The owner of the ATM card who was shocked by debit messages from his bank called up the customer care and blocked the card.

The complainant, C Saravanan filed a complaint with the Korattur police on July 18, three days after he blocked the card. A resident of Padi, Saravanan runs a tea shop in Kolathur.

Police sources said that Saravanan realised that he had lost his ATM card only after the transactions took place. He had last used the card at an ATM machine in Padi on the night of July 14. The next day, around 1.30 pm, he had received a message saying that his card was used at a famous clothing retail store in Padi. In the next 20 minutes, his card was used to buy lunch at a restaurant nearby and then at a TASMAC outlet.

According to police, an amount of Rs 3547 was debited in total from Saravanan’s account, before he noticed and blocked the card. “Luckily, he noticed the transaction messages, else more money would have been swindled from his account, ” said a police officer.

The police officer added that Saravanan’s card must have dropped off in the ATM centre and the person who took it used the tap limit of Rs.2,000 per transaction, for which PIN number is not needed.

Korattur Police under the Avadi city police Commissionerate have registered a case and are investigating. According to police sources, another ATM card was also stolen in Padi in the same week, from which more than Rs 50,000 was stolen.