A 44-year-old man identified as Michael Joseph, who specializes in defrauding people trying to withdraw money from ATM machines, under the guise of helping them to operate the machines, has been arrested in the Banks Road area of Bauchi metropolis in Bauchi State.
Bauchi Police Command, SP Ahmed Wakil said in a statement on Tuesday that Joseph, who happens to be a suspect was promptly arrested when he was found with 31 ATM cards from different banks.
He added that the suspect was arrested when he attempted to defraud a lady at a Bank’s ATM Gallery in Bauchi.
While in the ATM queue, the suspect insisted on knowing the type of ATM card the lady was using for the transaction which made the lady suspicious, and she immediately reported the suspect to the Bank’s Security Men.
Following this development, the suspect was arrested and a search conducted on him revealed he had 31 ATM cards from different banks in his possession.
Police said on interrogation, the suspect revealed that he hails from Benue State, and came to Plateau State looking for a job but ended up as a bus driver for 3 years.
‘’The suspected explained that he was introduced to the fraud activity by one Magaji ‘m’ of Kano State when they met at a Beer Parlor in Jos, Plateau State.
Joseph, according to the police statement, gathered ATM cards from different banks and usually goes to ATM points to look for persons who cannot operate the machine.
He will get the ATM card pin of his victim after such assistance and quickly swap the victim’s ATM card with an old ATM card from the same bank in his possession.
Police said the investigation revealed that the suspect successfully defrauded his first victim of N18, 000.
He also defrauded another victim of N25, 000 at a Micro Finance Bank.
He carried out the two fraudulent acts in Plateau State before he decided to move to Bauchi State in a bit to further his fraudulent activities.
“But he met his waterloo when he attempted to defraud the lady at a Bank’s ATM Gallery situated at Banks Road, Bauchi.
“The investigation is in progress after which the suspect will be charged to court,” the statement concluded.
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