Police Arrest Serial ATM Snatcher In Ozoro, Recover 33 Cards

By Daniel Dafe/Franklin Ogude/ Okeoghene Itebu

The Delta State Police Command, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, arrested Ojo Amos, who specializes in stealing ATM cards from unsuspecting victims.

The suspect, aged 33, who hails from Agbara-Otor in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, was apprehended on the said day at about 1.00p.m around a POS stand, beside First Bank, Ozoro branch.

According to a statement by the police spokesman in the state, DSP Bright Edafe, the arrest was made by the Ozoro Police Division alongside vigilante members following a tip-off that the suspect was seen in the area.

The police said 33 ATM cards and the sum of N50, 000 were recovered from the suspect.

DSP Edafe added that the suspect confessed that he stole one of the cards from one Rufai Abdulahi at Zenith Bank, Kwale branch and later withdrew the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand naira from the victim’s account.

Preliminary investigations later revealed that the suspect usually stays behind his victims at the ATM machine waiting and targeting people who he feels are not too educated, old women and children especially when he notices that they are having problem operating the ATM machine.

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“He moves closer to them pretending to be a bank staff trying to help them and in the process he swaps the ATM card,” the statement added.

Continuing, the Police PRO said that the suspect also confessed that he watches them as they enter their ATM pins, memorizes it and after swapping the ATM cards, he uses either a POS stand or ATM machine to empty their bank accounts.

Ojo is said to have been doing this for four years.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Delta State CP Ari Muhammed Ali FCIA, PSC(+) while urging members of the public to be law abiding also advised that they learn from the cases regularly reported by the command and also for them to be vigilant when making use of their ATM cards and ensure that only uniform bank staff are allowed to assist them when the need arises.