Hi-Tech ATM Fraud in Kanpur, Thieves Used Steel Plate Trick to Steal Cash from Union Bank ATM in Kanpur

Some clever thieves managed to steal cash from the Union Bank ATM located in Dadanagar by using a steel plate. Here’s how they did it:

People went to this ATM to withdraw money, but even after completing the process, the machine didn’t give out cash. However, the money still got deducted from their bank accounts. Three customers noticed this and complained to the bank.

To find out what was going wrong, the branch manager, Saurabh Dwivedi, checked the ATM’s CCTV footage from April 3. What he saw was shocking. On March 29, at around 11:20 AM, a customer tried to withdraw money from the ATM. He followed the entire process, but the cash didn’t come out. About 20 minutes later, a suspicious young man, around 25 years old, came to the ATM. He acted like he was trying to withdraw money, but instead, he bent down, opened a hidden panel (called the service plate) at the bottom of the machine, and took out the cash that had got stuck earlier. This cash actually belonged to the previous customer.

When the bank checked more CCTV footage from March 23 and 25, they found similar incidents. It appears these thieves hang around the ATM, watch when someone fails to receive their money, and then sneak in later to steal it.

During an inspection of the ATM machine, the bank staff found a steel plate placed exactly where the money usually comes out. This plate was blocking the cash from being dispensed. The thief had placed this plate by opening the ATM’s service panel, which only bank staff are supposed to access. It’s suspected that the thief might have created a duplicate key to open this panel easily.

The bank has now filed a police report at Govindnagar police station. Additional Inspector Abhay Singh said that the CCTV footage has been handed over, and the police are working to identify and catch the criminals soon.