SCAMSTERS INC.

An alert cashier at a retail outlet on Sunday foiled the attempt of four youths to purchase goods worth Rs2 lakh using a fake credit card.

Two of them - Arvind V (25) and Praveen Kumar (24) - were arrested from the outlet, while the other two fled in a stolen car, police said. Those escaped were identified as Aslam and Suresh. All four were from Hyderabad.

According to Ashoknagar police, the accused handed over a credit card from HSBC to the cashier after picking up clothes and accessories from the Lifestyle outlet on Richmond road. On swiping, the cashier found the card was provided by Axis Bank and informed the police. The accused had picked up the goods in just two hours, police said.

The arrested duo, who was on a tour of the city, admitted they had used magnetic strips from other credit cards to make purchases. They used software to change the name on the credit card, police said.

Arvind, an MCA graduate, knew skimming - a term used to refer to the theft of credit card information. Police said he was the leader of the gang. Police were looking for the car, which had a fake number plate.

Ashoknagar police had arrested a Malaysian national in connection with skimming a month ago. In a similar case, nine software engineers from Kerala were arrested the past year. These men had changed names on credit cards stolen from foreign countries.

Source: DNA