Amidst the festive season, fake credit card gangs are on the prowl. Police say that they mainly target crowded shopping malls to make purchases.

A special police team checking vehicles in Pulianthope in Chennai caught two men, alleged to be part of a major fake credit card gang. 27 year old Shanavas of Ashok Nagar and Shanmuga Balaji (26) of Saligramam were travelling on a scooter when they were caught by the police team. The team interrogated them. When they could not answer the questions satisfactorily, the police arrested them. Later they confessed.

Eleven fake credit cards and two LCD TVs were recovered from them. They said that they were planning to make more purchases with the help of these fake cards that they bought from Malaysia, indicating involvement of an international gang.

Another fake credit card gang was busted when the CCB's bank fraud wing got a call from a merchant in Fountain Plaza. Kandhaswamy, the ACP, bank fraud wing said "After getting a call from Navitha Narayanan who owns a shop in Fountain Plaza we picked up Viju Kumar (33) of Ayanavaram and Sivakumar (36) of Tiruvallur. A Singapore-origin card and a forged State Bank of India card were seized. On the basis of the information given by the two, we arrested Babu (27) of Avadi."

These city based gangsters usually buy fake cards for 10 percent of the credit value from abroad and use runners to purchase goods with the help of these cards said the ACP.

In a similar case, the Mumbai police arrested a 44 year old Mohammad Javeed from the city. The man was caught red-handed by the shopkeepers. His three accomplices managed to flee. Twenty eight fake credit cards and three mobile phones were recovered from the room they were staying in. the case has been reported to Central crime Branch (CCB) for further inquiry.