News

Parmar and Machhi get even

March 20, 2018

Naivety cost two ATM users in the Indian state of Gujarat the sum of 19,000 rupees ($292). But Harshad Parmar and Mahesh Machhi were clever enough to get it back.

In a report by The Times of India, Parmar said he had gone to an ATM to withdraw 9,000 rupees, but did not know how to use the machine, so a man standing nearby offered to help him.

After entering the withdrawal amount, however, the man told Parmar that the ATM was out of cash and he would have to try another.

Later, Parmar found that the 9,000 rupees had, indeed, been withdrawn. He returned to the bank to review CCTV footage and saw that after he had left the machine, his "helper" had pressed "enter" to complete the transaction and helped himself to the cash.

While Parmar was at the bank, Macchi came in with the same complaint about a 10,000 rupee withdrawal. The two men learned that they'd had been taken in by the same thief.

Maachi and Parmar's son staked out the ATM, reasoning that if the thief came looking for another victim, they might be lucky enough to catch him.

He did, and they were. Police found 37,000 rupees in cash at the thief's home.