An ex-employee of a CP cafe was recently booked for allegedly cloning credit and debit cards of customers and using them for transactions worth over Rs6lakh. After this incident, we found out it wasn't a rare case and card cloning has become a major headache for the Delhi Police.

The police tells us that they receive around 15 cases of card cloning every month on an average. Earlier this year, similar cases of card skimming were reported in restaurants in Mumbai. The chances of card cloning is higher in fancy restaurants and malls since people don't pay attention to who they are handing the card to, the police says.

15 cases of card cloning every month in Delhi Bhishm Singh, DCP, Cyber Crime, says, "The Cyber Crime Branch of Delhi Police receives at least 15 card cloning cases every month. Your card can be cloned only when you hand it to someone. People tend to give their cards to the waiters or attendants for payment in restaurants. Ab woh aapke card ke saath kya karta hai, aapko kya pata. And there are more chances of these things at high-end places because people trust these venues."

In case of card frauds, immediate police report crucial Madhur Verma, DCP, Crime, says, "Besides card skimming, people also get duped when shopping online or sharing their bank details with someone." With an increase in cases of cyber crime, police stations are also learning to deal it. Verma adds, "Now, most police stations have a cyber cell. People need to be alert, especially if their card is being swiped twice or thrice while making payment. Any discrepancy should be immediately reported."

Hotels, restaurants and malls easy target: Shop owners Most shop owners in the city have the option of card payments, but say that they have to keep a check on who is sitting at the payment counter. "At our shops, we do not take the risk of making the staff sit at the payment counter. The card reader is a small machine, which is easily available in the market. Anyone with little technical knowledge can learn to create a copy of cards. There are high chances of such cases at hotels, restaurants or petrol pumps, where many people walk in and hand over their cards to the staff. In shops, we can monitor every transaction closely," says Sanjeev Mehra, who has a shop in Khan Market. But Sanjay Chawla, who is handling operations at a mall in Janakpuri, says otherwise. He says, "The accountability for a transaction at a store in any mall lies on the store manager. In malls, there have been lesser cases of card cloning as there are CCTV cameras."

A shop owner in Bengali Market adds, "We have staff working with us for years, but no one is authorised to accept cards from customers and make transactions. In case the customer offers to pay by card, they direct him to the counter where only the owners sit."

Rise in card cloning after demonetisation: Lawyers Lawyers who have dealt with cases related to card cloning say that there has been a significant rise in the numbers of cases after demonetisation. Sandeep Kapur, a lawyer, explains, "As the government moves towards a cashless economy, the importance of credit and debit cards is increasing. Card cloning involves illegally transferring details from an original to a duplicate or a cloned card, resulting in misappropriation of funds. Although the government claimed that cases of card and net banking fraud were reduced by 6% in 2016, technological developments and lack of awareness among cardholders has led to an increase in such scams in the recent months." Kapur adds, "Victims can get FIRs registered with the local police under the IPC and IT Act, thereby initiating criminal proceedings to apprehend, recover money and punish the culprits. While cyber laws are exhaustive and the police's cyber cells are well-equipped to follow white money trail, greater cooperation by banks and sensitization of this topic among cardholders is needed."

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Delhi gets 15 card cloning cases each month - Times of India