Rajkot’s Bhaktinagar police have apprehended Anish Safi Mohammad Mav (31), a resident of Nuh, Haryana, for orchestrating a series of ATM frauds inspired by YouTube tutorials.
Anish, who transitioned from a mechanical engineer to a thief, devised a method to manipulate ATMs. He accessed the ATM monitor using a key, withdrew money, and then created a transaction error by turning off the switch inside the monitor. Following this, he would call the bank’s helpline, falsely claiming that money had been deducted from his account but not dispensed by the ATM, prompting the bank to reverse the transaction. This scheme allowed him to effectively withdraw the same money twice.
Investigations revealed that Anish had executed similar frauds across several banks in Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. His latest operation occurred at a Canara Bank ATM in Shyam Complex, Rajkot, where he withdrew Rs9,000, tampered with the machine to cause a decline in the transaction, and then filed a complaint to retrieve the amount.
However, his scheme unraveled, leading the bank to file a complaint with the Bhaktinagar police. Under the direction of Police Inspector Mayurdhwajsinh Sarvaiya and Police Sub-Inspector M.N. Vasava, a swift investigation resulted in his arrest.
Authorities seized two ATM cards linked to his crimes, a total of 33 cards from different banks, two keys used to access the ATM monitors, his mobile phone, and Rs5,000 in cash.
During questioning, police learned that Anish previously worked at an automobile company in Sanand, which shut down. After returning to Haryana, he spent a year preparing for the Junior Clerk exam in the electrical department but faced repeated failures. It was a friend’s suggestion to explore ATM fraud that led him to YouTube, where he learned various techniques for committing fraud.
His criminal activities began in Haryana and expanded to Rajasthan and Gujarat, where he executed fraud multiple times: twice in Nadiad, four to five times in Ahmedabad, six times in Jamnagar, seven to eight times in Rajkot, and twice in Gandhidham of Kutch, among other locations.
Over the past two years, Anish successfully carried out numerous frauds, though this marks his first arrest. He rented various bank accounts to obtain ATM cards, using them to facilitate his scams. Interestingly, he reported that in 60% of cases, banks refunded amounts less than Rs10,000, which contributed to his repeated success. However, when banks reviewed CCTV footage and saw him withdrawing the money, they did not reverse those transactions.