Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Unidentified cyber crooks came up with a new way to dupe people of their hard-earned money. On Friday, the crooks allegedly inserted a device into the ATM booth, following which the cards of the customers were stuck in the machine at Manisha market of Shahpura. The crooks had even pasted a fake helpline number on the machine.

Believing it to be true, two customers called up the number. First, their basic banking details were sought and then they were asked to enter their ATM pin into the machine. Following this, they were however, able to claim their cards back, but Rs 1 lakh were debited from the account of one man, and Rs 1.20 lakh were debited from the other man’s account. The Chunabhatti police have begun probing the incident.

According to Chunabhatti police station TI Bhupinder Kaul Siddhu, the incident came to light on Friday night, when a team from the bank went to inspect the ATM booth. The team, after finding the device, and four ATM cards stuck in the machine, informed the police.

On Saturday, two elderly persons approached the Chunabhatti police, identifying themselves as CS Dave, 81, and Dinesh Mahajan. They told the police that they had inserted their cards into the machine, but when they were unable to get it back, they called up at the helpline number pasted there. After entering the ATM pin into the machines, they got their cards back, but after a few hours, Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.20 lakh were deducted from their bank accounts.