CTTC arrests 3 ATM fraudsters

Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of police have arrested three members of a fraud gang over the weekend, for misappropriating about Tk 50 lakh from over 100 bank accounts in Dhaka, Faridpur and Cox's Bazar.

Mamnun Talukdar, alleged leader of the gang, was arrested from a hotel in Cox's Bazar, while Raju Farazi was picked up from Dhaka's Jatrabari area on Friday. Another member Mithu Mridha was arrested at Bhanga in Faridpur on Saturday, said Najmul Islam, additional deputy commissioner (cyber crime) of CTTC unit.

They used to trick ATM card users to know their CVV (card verification value) numbers and OTP (one-time password) of mobile phones, said the official.

According to CTTC, the gang used to collect ATM card numbers, account names, and phone numbers from branch managers by calling them from cloned numbers of the card divisions of respective banks.

"Identifying themselves as customer care agents, they used to call account holders and tell them that they made the call to activate new (ATM) cards. The fraudsters collected CVV codes and expiry dates of cards in this way and transferred account holders' money to their Skrill, bKash or Nagad accounts," said Najmul Islam.

The CTTC team recovered seven mobile phones and a bulk of fake SIM cards during the drives. It seized a car and froze multiple bank and bKash accounts of the fraudsters, the official added.

"The authorities of the banks that fell prey to the fraudsters lodged complaints with the CTTC, who informed the matter to Bangladesh Bank and finally managed to identify the gang after tracking phone numbers in Dhaka, Faridpur and Cox's Bazar," Najmul continued.

A case was filed with Dhanmondi Police Station in this connection.

The arrestees confessed to their crimes during primary interrogation, officials said.