ATM fraud : Ignorant Asians fall prey

Manama: A court sentenced a Gulf national to five years in prison for cheating ignorant people who did not know how to withdraw money from ATMs.

According to an Asian victim, the defendant was standing near an ATM when he saw him first.

“I requested him to help me to withdraw money from the ATM as I wasn’t aware of how to use it. He told me that the card wasn’t working, and gave me the card. But later I received a message on my phone stating that BD500 was withdrawn from my account,” the victim told the prosecutors.

It was found later that the defendant had in fact replaced the victim’s card with another one. “When I went to the bank to inquire, they told me that my card was replaced,” he stated.

The defendant’s involvement in the case was found after the police previewed CCTV cameras installed at the ATM.

It is understood that this was the defendant's modus operandi and he could have cheated many others in this manner.