Mumbai MBA graduate held in ATM fraud

BHOPAL: The state cyber cell arrested a 27-year-old woman from Mumbai, who is allegedly a member of a high-profile inter-state gang of fraudsters involved in making ATM card clones.

The accused woman was produced before the court here on Saturday from where she was sent on a five-day police remand.

SP (cyber crime) Sudeep Goenka said that the arrested woman as per hotel records where she stayed in Bhopal has been identified as Ayasha Qazi , a resident of Bhiwandi near Mumbai.

Qazi holds an MBA degree from a prestigious institute in Mumbai. Her father is a retired civil engineer, while her mother is a professor. She allegedly got into the habit of taking drugs since her college days in Mumbai. She would allegedly finance her drugs from Rs50,000 that her father would send her each month towards her educational expenses. To make a quick buck, Qazi got involved with one Mohammed Hussain Hakam, a resident Mumbai and his friend Mohammed Faizan. One of her friends had allegedly introduced her to Faizan.

Faizan allegedly enticed Qazi saying he would get her into Bitcoin mining. Qazi's task was allegedly to keep a watch on the ATM, while Hakam would fit a skimming device and a camera in the booths. After this, Qazi would conduct a recce at the ATMs, just to find out whether the skimmer was working properly.

Faizan allegedly came to Bhopal twice in January and July 2017, said Goenka.

Ayesha told police that she was associated with the 11-member gang for the last 2 years and had earned around Rs8-10 lakh in that span. She used to travel by air with Faizan and Hakam to various cities, said Goenka.

Hakam was earlier arrested by cyber cops, while Faizan is still on the run. Hakam told he can fix a skimming device and a camera in an ATM booth in mere 20-30 seconds. Faizan used to arrange skimming device and other equipment from China through online websites, said Goenka.

Qazi confessed about her involvement in three skimming incidents, including the one reported at an ATM booth located at Savoy Complex in Shahpura in July 2017. The gang had then allegedly cloned 73 ATM cards after stealing user data from the ATM at Savoy Complex.

Using the cloned ATMs they swindled Rs Rs17.36 lakh from various ATMs in Ahmedabad, said police. The kingpin of the gang has managed to flee to Dubai via Nepal, added police.