Kerala's first brush with an int'l cyber heist

AFTER nearly a decade, a cyber heist at an ATM kiosk near Althara Junction is once again in the spotlight.

- VARSHA SOMARAJ

On Wednesday, a legal official attached to the 2016 case received a notice from the UK Red Warrant division seeking a report on Constantine Christian Victor, one of the accused. He has reportedly been traced in the UK, and extradition proceedings are underway to bring him to India.

The case

The customers who used the said ATM in the first week of August 2016 began reporting unauthorized withdrawals. At first, it seemed like a technical glitch or maybe even a routine fraud. But as complaints poured in, police realized that something big was in play.

Early investigations revealed that more than two dozen bank users had fallen victim to card skimming—a method where fraudsters use hidden devices to capture card data and PIN numbers. In this case, a cloning device had been fitted inside the ATM, along with a pinhole camera that discreetly recorded keystrokes. The stolen data was transferred wirelessly and used to create duplicate cards with which money was withdrawn from various locations.