Yet another case of credit card fraud has been revealed by the police. Five people consisting of three Nigerians and two Indians have been arrested on 8th April 2010 and have been remanded to fourteen days of police custody by a city court.

Three Nigerians namely Peter Orenabi Olunwagbenga, Benson Oladetam Adams and Leena Orenabi were arrested by Kolkata police for involvement in credit card fraud. Also two Indians, Manish Agarwal and Ankik Shaw were arrested under the same case.

A multinational bank had lodged a complaint with the police that many of its customers were complaining of unexplained transactions from their cards.

Peter Orenubi Oluwagbenga, the leader of the gang of the million-dollar credit card fraud would clone the credit cards of people and then not only swipe his cloned cards for jewellery and gizmos to sell later but also make bookings in star hotels, only to cancel these for cash refunds.

"Apart from cloning credit cards issued in the US and using these in India to purchase expensive jewellery and electronic items, Peter made huge amounts of money through fraudulent hotel bookings," said a senior officer involved in the probe.

"He would tell the booking executive over phone that he would send an associate with a bona fide identity card to collect the refund. The designated contact would be one of his recruits in the city where the hotel was located," the officer said.

The one to lose in this case would be the customer whose card was used in the process.

Banks insist that unless the customer himself becomes more conscious regarding the matter, such cases cannot be stopped.

"Banks don't get to know about fraudulent transactions or cloning of customers' credit/debit cards until such a crime is reported," said a senior official of ICICI Bank.

"Cardholders are the first interface when a card-based financial transaction takes place. They can prevent any fraud by being extra vigilant about their cards," he added.

Banks advise their customers that they should make use of help lines to verify or confirm every transaction occurring through their cards and also update their personal records.

"It is very important for credit/debit card customers to always update changes in their telephone numbers so that the bank can contact them and confirm as soon as it notices an unusual transaction on the card of the customer," said a representative of ICICI Bank.