Bhubaneswar, June 24: Police today arrested Madhab Acharya, who made money cheating gullible people at ATMs and invested in buying two buses and a car.

The 34-year-old Acharya, a native of Kendrapara, learnt the tricks of drawing money from automated teller machines (ATMs) using passwords of gullible victims.

He excelled in the trick of duping people at ATMs by repeatedly watching videos of such crimes on YouTube.

Once Acharya mastered over the crime, he formed a six-member gang.

"Acharya and his gang members were involved in a number of such cases in the state's coastal districts, including Khurda, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Puri, Balasore and Dhenkanal. So far, we have found the gang involved in five such crimes in Bhubaneswar and Kendrapara," said commissioner of police Y.B. Khurania.

Explaining the modus operandi, the police said the gang members used to target old men and women at ATM kiosks.

Describing their modus operandi, the police said Acharya and his gang members would put a few drops of adhesive under the cancel button to keep the machine active.

Then the criminals would stand there in such a position from where they could steal a glance of the customer's PIN when he or she pressed the buttons. The police said that in case the criminals could not see the PIN, they would make it out by just remembering the hand movement of the customers.

"Once the card-holder inserted the card and pressed the enter button, the ATM machine failed to function properly due to the activated cancel button. After a few unsuccessful attempts, the gang members would persuade the customer to leave the counter on the plea that the ATM was not functional. Later, they would withdraw money by using the customer's PIN," said the police official.

The police have seized cash worth Rs 60,000, a car and two buses purchased with the stolen money. The police said the accused, who had been committing similar crimes since 2011, purchased the vehicles by investing around Rs 15 lakh.

According to a police official, the latest victim of Acharya's gang was Sadhu Charan Mohanty, 62, who lodged a written complaint with Khandagiri police after losing Rs 20,000 to the gang.

"Mohanty yesterday saw Acharya driving his car at Baramunda. Since he had seen Acharya in the ATM on the day of the incident, he tried to stop him. But, Acharya fled the spot leaving his car behind," said a police official.

Later, the police verified the ownership of the car and called Acharya to the police station.

"He initially told us that he had not committed any theft. Acharya even tried to convince us that he took the money as the machine dispensed it after Mohanty had left the ATM," said a police official.

The official said cops were trying to nab other members of the gang.

Police sources said the criminals used to target ATM counters at secluded areas, where very few people would come. Though patrolling vans have been keeping an eye on such counters, it is not always possible to guard all such counters and the criminals take advantage of such situations.

SAFETY TIPS

• Avoid taking help of strangers in ATM booths
• Don’t disclose PIN to onlookers
• Don’t allow any person to enter kiosk during transaction
• Before leaving kiosk, ensure you have taken card and receipt
• Don’t wear expensive jewellery and take other valuables to kiosk