Rabale: A 59-year-old man was allegedly duped of Rs 98,593 after an unidentified fraudster swapped his ATM card under the pretext of helping him at an ATM kiosk in the Rabale MIDC area. The Rabale MIDC Police have registered a case and launched a search for the accused using CCTV footage.

According to police, complainant Jeet Motilal Narayan (59), a resident of Rabale MIDC and an employee of a private company in the same locality, had visited an Axis Bank ATM near Shankar Hotel and Golden Garage at around 8:30 a.m. on July 16 to withdraw cash.

While Narayan was reportedly struggling to operate the machine, a man standing nearby offered to help. During the interaction, the accused allegedly observed Narayan's PIN and, through sleight of hand, swapped his genuine ATM card with another before fleeing the spot.

Shortly after Narayan left the ATM, the fraudster allegedly used the stolen card to carry out unauthorised transactions, withdrawing Rs 98,593 from his account. Narayan realised he had been cheated only after receiving SMS alerts about the withdrawals.

He lodged a complaint with the Rabale MIDC Police on July 24. Based on the complaint, police registered an FIR against the unidentified accused under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Investigators are examining CCTV footage from the ATM kiosk to trace the suspect.

Police once again appealed to citizens to remain vigilant at ATMs, avoid accepting help from strangers, and never disclose their PIN.