Panic At ATMs, Victims Are Not Aware Of Their Cards Being Exchanged: New City Police Reveals Old Mode That Still Eats Victims

Kota Baru Police Chief, Jambi Kompol Jimmy when he exposed the case of theft of customer money at an ATM machine. (ANTARA/Nanang Mairiadi)

JAMBI Team of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Kota Baru Police, Jambi, managed to arrest one perpetrator of the theft by breaking into customer money through an Independent Cash Pavilion (ATM) machine in a number of locations in Jambi City.

"With the mode of blocking ATM machines involving cross-regional syndicates, we managed to catch one perpetrator without a fight while hiding in East Lampung Regency," said Kota Baru Police Chief, Kompol Jimi Fernando, in Jambi, Antara, Monday, December 8.

In this case, the police arrested a perpetrator named Juwari (38), a resident of Mega Kencana Hamlet, Rajabasa Lama Village, Labuhan Ratu District, East Lampung Regency.

Kompol Jimi explained that Juwari is part of a syndicate consisting of four people with different roles. They target victims who are transacting at ATMs, then pretend to offer assistance.

There are syndicate members who peek at the victim's ATM PIN, there are those who prepare a similar replacement ATM card, while others are tasked with blocking the card slot at the ATM machine.

There is one perpetrator who was detained at the Kota Baru Police because the other perpetrators had already been detained in several other cities. They are a syndicate that prepares ATMs from various banks," said Jimi.

The mode used is to block the ATM card slot until the victim's card cannot come out. When the victim panicked, the perpetrator pretended to help and secretly exchanged the original card for a fake card that had been prepared. After that, another perpetrator drains the victim's account at another ATM.

The results of the examination showed that the suspect had been convicted in a similar case in Surabaya. For the Jambi area, he admitted that he had only acted once, namely in the Mayang Mangurai area on Monday, June 24, 2024. In this action, the victim lost Rp 20 million in cash which was then divided equally by the perpetrators.

At that time the victim was about to withdraw the money but the card could not get into the machine. The perpetrator offered to help until the victim's card was swapped without realizing it. A few minutes later, the victim received a notification of withdrawal of funds of Rp. 20 million," said Jimi.

Based on the investigation, the Kota Baru Police Opsnal Team coordinated with the Tekab Team 308 East Elephants to pursue East Lampung. The perpetrator was arrested without a fight in Mega Kencana Hamlet, Rajabasa Lama.

Now the perpetrator is being held at the Kota Baru Police and charged with Article 363 of the Criminal Code regarding the crime of theft.