Online theft costs bank customers 7 lakh

Cloning of debit cards suspected

Hyderabad: A sum of Rs 7 lakh was debited from 19 accounts of customers belonging to Syndicate Bank in Secunderabad on Saturday. Police began investigation into the online bank pilferage. Following reports that several account holders in Syndicate Bank in Secunderabad branch had lost lakhs of rupees through suspected cloning of debit cards, scores of panic-stricken customers reached the Picket branch of the bank.

While protesting against the ‘laxity’ of the bank officials, they demanded security for their deposits. Customers panicked as their balance in bank accounts went down without any transactions. The account holders who realized that amount from their accounts was deducted entered into an argument with the management.

They questioned the security mechanism of the bank and protested in front of the branch. The management spoke with the victimised customers, tried to calm them down and promised to refund the deducted amount. The manager of the branch filed a complaint with the police who began investigation.

It is also believed that the culprits also targeted some accounts of customers in other banks. The police suspect a Mumbai-based bunch of robbers behind this crime. They might have committed to the offence through ‘ATM cloning’.