08 July,2010 08:18 AM IST | | Imran Gowhar
Data theft through skimmingu00a0 (see box) is back on the city crime scene. A credit card holder's data was stolen from Bangalore by hackers who used it in Karachi to swipe Rs 18,000 online.
The incident came to light when the cardholder, K Sudha Lakshmi, who has never visited Pakistan received SMS alert on her mobile informing her about the two transactions.
The bank's customer care department later confirmed that Lakshmi's card had been swiped for Rs 13,155.84 and Rs 5,481 in Pakistan.
Sudha filed a complaint with her bank and made it clear that her card had been misused and refused to pay the amount. She also submitted copies of her passport to prove that she has never travelled to Pakistan.
Based on her complaint, ICICI bank conducted investigations and found that the card details have been stolen through skimming and lodged a complaint with the Cubbon Park police on Monday.
ICICI bank Regional manager Manas Ranjan Dash, while filing a complaint with Cubbon park police said that Lakshmi used her card to pay a bill of Rs 364 on April 10, at a Barista coffee outlet on Lavelle road, two days before it was misused.
Dash suspects that Lakshmi's credit card details could have been stolen at the shop and passed on to fraudsters who used it to withdraw money online.
The Cubbon park police have filed a case of cheating against the unknown fraudsters and have sought the details of the last transaction from the coffee outlet.
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"We will take the help of cyber crime experts to investigate the case," explained an officer of the Cubbon Park police.
ICICI Bank, K Sudha Lakshmi and Barista coffee refused to comment despite repeated attempts.
| What is skimming? |
| Skimming is the use of credit card information to fund an otherwise legitimate transaction. It is typically an inside job by a dishonest employee of a legitimate merchant. |
