Sunday, July 6, 2008

Indian's credit card swiped in Pakistan - khaleejtimes.com - 02 July 2008

DUBAI -Dubai Police have arrested two persons allegedly linked with an international gang of credit card fraudsters, from a hotel in Deira on Monday, police sources said.

The arrest follows a complaint filed by an Indian national whose credit card was allegedly skimmed in Dubai, and used in Pakistan for purchasing goods from a garment shop.

Even though police sources confirmed the arrest, they refused to divulge the details of the suspects and their modus operandi, citing that investigations were still in progress.

M.P.M, the Indian national whose card was allegedly skimmed by the suspected fraudsters, said he was shocked to hear that a transaction had been made in Pakistan using his credit card.

"I got my credit card with a limit of Dh24,000 on June 15. I activated it on June 19 and did only three transactions -one at a hotel and two in supermarkets. On June 26, I received a call from the bank informing me that a transaction of Pakistani Rupees 99,500 had been made at Zubair Garments, Lahore, swiping my credit card," said M.P.M, who works in the Purchase Department of a local construction company.

"It was a shocking information for me. I informed the bank immediately that I had never travelled to Pakistan and that the credit card was still with me. The bank instructed me to produce the card and my passport to them to prove I was in the UAE and the transaction was made by some others by forging credit card," he said.

The bank blocked the card soon after he informed them of the fraud, M.P.M said.

"On the same day, the fraudsters again tried to do two transactions of Rupees 50,000 each in the same shop. However, they failed to succeed as the card had been blocked by then," he added.

"I filed a dispute form to the bank on June 29 but they said the money would be reimbursed to my credit card account only after the bank gets proof about the fraudulent activity. Now, I am waiting for the reply from the bank," he said.

Meanwhile, a statement from the bank yesterday confirmed the incident, saying an account holder of the bank was the victim of defrauding.

"The suspects behind the scheme sought to skim the credit card details of patrons in a local hotel. The suspects were taken into custody yesterday," the statement said.

"After police probe, it was found that one account holder was victim of defrauding. The bank is currently working with the customer to settle the claim and refund the defrauded amount," the statement added.

The statement also disclosed that one of the suspects in the fraud had worked for an outsourcing agency contracted to provide services for the bank. The statement added that the suspects had earlier been terminated from the stated agency.

By Riyasbabu

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