This thief will tell you why you should never have your birthday as ATM PIN

Police urge the public to avoid PINs that could be easily guessed. Representation pic/iStock

Be alert! Using your birth date as an ATM password could cost you. Andheri police recently arrested a 33-year-old man for stealing ATM cards and using the cardholders' birth dates, obtained from social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, to guess their ATM passwords. The accused successfully withdrew money from three different bank accounts using this method.

The arrested accused, identified as Vinod Devanlal Patle, 33, is a resident of Manpada in Thane, originally from Haryana. Police recovered 149 ATM cards from Patle. He was traced through footage from 250 CCTV cameras and apprehended in Thane.

Fraudsters track victim's social media to access birthdates. Representation pic/iStock

Modus operandi

Patle stole wallets containing Aadhaar cards and PAN cards, from which he extracted the victims' birth dates. He also searched for the victims on Facebook andhttps://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/eknath-shinde-recovering-from-fever-set-to-return-to-mumbai-23438996 Instagram to confirm their birth dates. Using these dates as potential ATM PINs, Patle attempted withdrawals three times daily at various ATMs. If the PIN matched the birth date, it was a "jackpot" for Patle, allowing him to withdraw money.

During the investigation, Andheri police discovered that Patle had withdrawn money from three bank accounts in the past month using this method.

The case

According to police, the complainant, a police officer residing in Andheri West's police quarters, reported his wallet was stolen on October 16 around 11 am. Later that night, at 11.57 pm, he received a message that Rs 49,500 had been withdrawn from his bank account. He immediately filed an FIR with the Andheri police. The accused revealed to cops that he searched the victim on Facebook and got his birth date which he used as a combination to withdraw the money.

The investigation

Under the guidance of Additional CP Paramjeet Singh Dahiya, Zone 10 DCP Sachin Gunjal, ACP Shashikant Bhosale, and Senior Inspector Ramesh Bhame, a team led by PSI S Supe and constables Maruti Surnar, Pravin Kamble, Vinayak Gawli, Haridas Shinde, Datta Tarke, Vasant Narbar, and Ketan Patil was formed to apprehend the accused.

PSI S Supe said, "We checked 50 to 60 cameras from Andheri to Andheri railway station and followed the accused. He boarded a Churchgate-bound train from Andheri and later switched to a Kasara-bound train at Dadar. He was tracked to Thane using footage from another 50 to 60 cameras. In total, we examined nearly 250 CCTV cameras to identify and nab him."

The police received technical inputs indicating that Patle was moving towards Dadar railway station, where he was eventually apprehended. They recovered Rs 25,000 in cash and seized 149 ATM cards.

Previous offence

Patle had been arrested in 2015 by Kapurbawdi police for a similar case involving ATM card theft and fraudulent withdrawals. Police urge the public to avoid using easily guessable PINs, such as birth dates, to protect their accounts from fraudsters.

149
No. of ATM cards found in the accused man's possession

Rs 25K
Amount of cash recovered from the accused

ATM card safety tips

. Never store the Bank-issued PIN with ATM card.
. Update PIN when using ATM card for the first time and destroy documents containing PIN details.
. Avoid writing down your PIN; commit it to memory.
. Do not send PIN via email or SMS.
. If you see unauthorised card transactions inform the bank.
. Do not write your PIN on the card.
. Register mobile number with the bank for SMS alerts on card transactions.
. Never share your PIN with anyone claiming to represent the bank.
. Avoid combinations like ID numbers, phone numbers, or birthdays. Avoid nos. like 123456 or 112233.