Credit card hacking detected in Bahawalpur
BAHAWALPUR, (MILLAT ONLINE):The law enforcement agencies have traced out gang that was
involved in hacking and stealing pin codes of credit and ATM cards in two
districts of Bahawalpur division including Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur who
later used them at online shopping or pin codes were sold out to Dubai and Sri
Lanka.
In last month of November, a three-member gang
was arrested from Shah Nawaz Colony in Rahimyar Khan city which was found
involved in making fake ATM cards by stealing pin codes of original ATM cards.
Special investigation teams had probe the hackers of Rahimyar Khan.
On condition of anonymity, an official from a law enforcement agency which used to keep
vigil on cybercrimes told APP here that during the investigation, it was
disclosed that some other gangs were also engaged in stealing pin codes of
credit and ATM cards both in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan district. “The gangs
who had purchased hacking software from internet and also got IT devices used
for making credit and ATM cards and installing pin codes in fake cards,” he
said.
The official further disclosed that some personnel of Custom Service and Pakistan
Post might be involved in the menace as IT devices were brought from other
countries and Custom Service personnel did not stop them. “Some personnel of
Pakistan Post might be part of the gangs as they also played their role in
stealing pin codes from credit and ATM cards delivered from bank to customers
in past,” they said.
He said that the gangs who hacked pin codes of credit and ATM cards used it in fake
credit and ATM cards made on modern IT devices. “The new credit cards were used
to purchase different items from online shopping sites,” he said, adding that the
accused told the investigators that they avoided to use those credit cards on “PayPal”
and Amazon” where verification process was very strict.
The official said that the hackers also sold out those credit cards or their pin codes in
Dubai and Sri Lanka where they were used at shopping malls or for other
purposes. “The hackers who were traced out in Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan belonged
to Faisalabad, Rahimyar Khan and other cities of Punjab,” he said, adding that
it was also unveiled that hackers had their networks in Lahore, Islamabad,
Karachi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and some other cities.
The police arrested three suspects including two real brothers from a house situated in Shah Nawaz Colony in Rahimyar Khan city and recovered laptops, computers, blank ATM cards, modern IT devices and other material.
Meanwhile, State Bank of Pakistan has issued instructions to
all banks to improve their system to save credit cards and ATM cards from
hacking. “The banks have been discussing the ways to convert magnetic ATM card
into chip card,” officials said, adding that stealing and hacking data from
chip card was impossible.