Youth dupes man of Rs 1,27,000 by switching ATM card while pretending to help

BALLARI: A man lost Rs 1.27 lakh after handing over his ATM card to a stranger who pretended to be helping him. The incident occurred at a Canara Bank ATM near the bus stand in Hosapete of Vijayanagara district.

Umesh Gowda had gone to withdraw cash and was struggling with a technical issue. He had withdrawn Rs 9,000, and was attempting to withdraw another Rs 9,000 from the ATM, but could not.

The stranger, who was standing behind him, offered to help and took his ATM card, pretended to try and switched Umesh’s card while telling him that there seemed to be some technical issue with the machine. The stranger then used the card to withdraw cash from various ATMs while Umesh was left unaware.

The Hosapete town police have registered a case and are searching for the accused. The incident serves as a warning to be cautious when using ATMs and not to hand over cards to strangers, the police said.