Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh is going to send in probe teams to banks on Sunday to investigate the complaints of withdrawal of money from clients’ accounts through hi-tech frauds.
“We’re sending inspection teams for probing such complaints to three private commercial banks (PCBs),” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN.
The banks are United Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL), the City Bank Limited and Eastern Bank Limited (EBL).
“No one will be spared if found involved in the glitch,” the central banker warned.
Meanwhile, all commercial banks have been instructed to beef up security of their ATM (Automated Teller Machine) booths across the country to avoid such heist.
Currently, around 8.5 million debit cards along with 0.5 million credit ones are being used across the country, according to the central bank statistics.
The BB’s move comes after the Eastern Bank on Friday detected 21 suspicious card transactions.
A fraudster with a fake EBL card used one of the ATM booths of the United Commercial Bank, which sounded off the alarm in UCBL's system.
A case was filed with the Banani Police Station in this connection on Friday, a UCBL official said, adding that they have informed both the BB and EBL about such fraud.
The EBL had to close down all its ATMs for six hours— from 12noon to 6:0pm—Friday after ‘freak transactions’ were reported by the accountholders.
Talking to BBN, a BB official said ATM theft is increasingly becoming a common crime, with fraudsters entering the booths of different banks with fake ID cards and introducing themselves as IT experts of the banks.
They then install a camera above the ATM machine to record the image of a cardholder typing the password, or fix a small device to the ATM card reader to copy the cardholder's information, he added.
“We’ve already asked the banks to check their ATM booths to see whether there is any skimming device to steal the customers' information or not.”
He also said the hackers used cap on their heads while entering the ATM booths only to hide their faces to avert security cameras installed inside the booths.
“The banks will have to compensate their clients who have lost money, if the central bank finds any negligence by the banks concerned,” the central banker noted.
The incident of such financial crime came as a matter of serious worry for the debit and credit cardholders who sought enough security for the money.
“We keep money in bank mainly on security grounds….how such money is being looted from the ATM booths despite having tight security measures,” Sajedul Karim, who works at a government entity, said.
Currently, around 7,000 ATM booths are in operation across the country.
BBN/SSR/AD