<![CDATA[KOCHI: The Kochi City Police on 1 August busted a skimming racket arresting one of the gang members while purchasing in shops in the city with credit/debit cards forged in Dubai. The police have launched a search for the three other members of the racket. According to Kochi police, the arrested person, Muhammad Sabid, 29, a native of Kasargod, had arrived in Kerala recently from Dubai. “It is learnt that the accused purchased a mobile phone worth `25,000 and gold ornaments worth `50,000 in Kochi, using forged cards. When they tried to make a similar purchase at another shop, the salesman grew suspicious, sensing trouble the gang fled from the shop leaving the card behind. Ernakulam Assistant Commissioner of Police K Lalji said, ‘We received an alert and CCTV footage from the shop where the four-member gang attempted to use the card. Following an investigation Muhammad Sabid was arrested with assistance of the card recovered from the shop and the CCTV footage”. Police recovered four cards from the possession of Muhammad Sabid. The accused revealed during investigation that all the members of the gang were working as salesmen in various shops in Dubai. The accused would steal information from credit/debit cards using skimming machines, including the card number and pin number, when customers swipe their cards for making purchases. Later, they would make duplicate cards using the stolen data. ]]>
