Mumbai crime: Lounge waiters dupe guests of lakhs via credit cards

In a major operation, the Thane Crime Branch arrested six waiters of various lounge-cum-eateries in Mumbai along with three others for credit card fraud.

According to the police, when guests would hand their credit or debit cards to waiters for payments, they would swipe the cards in a skimmer to copy the card information. They would then pass it on to others who would make duplicate cards.

The six accused

The police arrested Sumit Zigran, Vicky Carwailo and Kevin D'Souza as the main credit card scammers. "Zigran would befriend waiters and promise them a commission of 20 to 30 per cent and hand them skimmer machines," said Parag Manere, deputy commissioner of police, Thane Crime Branch.

The waiters would also note down the pin numbers of cards and pass them on to Zigran, who would pass the information on to Carwailo, who made the duplicates. D'Souza would then use the cards to withdraw money from various ATMSs.

"The waiters arrested worked with Rude Lounge and Bar in Powai and Thane. Some worked with Bora Bora in Juhu, Jo Bar in Mulund and Glass Lounge in Malad," said Nitin Thakre, senior police inspector of Thane Crime Branch.

The police advise that guests ensure no one is watching when the pin is punched in. The accused have until now committed a fraud of a total of Rs 30 lakh, the police said.