Patna, Jan. 7: Three persons were arrested today for allegedly conning people and stealing money from their bank accounts through an ATM kiosk.

Police said the trio used to stand in the ATM queue and target customers who looked old and not accustomed to using debit cards. Though their modus operandi is not clear yet, police suspect the three used to shout and make new ATM card users nervous and then trick them into leaving the ATM kiosk hurriedly without cancelling their transaction. In the old ATM machines, it generally takes at least 30 seconds for a transaction to end.

“The failure of the card user to press the ‘cancel’ button before leaving the ATM kiosk acted as a boon for the fraudsters. Interrogations are on to find out exactly how the three took out the money from others’ accounts,” superintendent of police (SP) Kim said.

The trio were arrested outside an ATM kiosk of State Bank of India at the Sichai Bhawan building on Bailey Road under Sachivalaya police station.

“The three were identified as Arvind Kumar, Navlesh Kumar Singh and Ajit Kumar, all residents of Patna. Five ATM cards and three mobiles have been recovered from them. A police team had been positioned in civil clothes around the ATM kiosk. CCTV camera footage at the ATM counter were checked after which the police zeroed in on the three suspects,” Patna senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar said.

Today, the three were spotted again outside the ATM. “They tried to escape but were caught. The three confessed to withdrawing over a lakh using the trick,” the SSP said.