A police fraud detective came to my work to investigate a customer’s claim that the ATM stole his money. The investigation determined that the ATM had been tampered with. The thief had inserted “something” into the area where the money falls. The “something” caught the first bill the machine dispensed, and allowed the other bills to dispense normally. If anyone else would have used the machine, they would have been given the correct amount, because the “something” already had a bill stuck to it. Best case scenario for the thief is having enough time in between customers to pull the stolen bill from the slot, and reset whatever device he was using to steal the money.
In this case, the machine dispenses the correct amount, but the actual tray ends up with a short stack.
I once got shorted on a withdrawal but IIRC the ATM notified me immediately. I went inside the bank, they checked some audit log or other on the machine and gave me the missing cash. Had the ATM not flashed a message I would have been long gone before I discovered the error, I count my money as I leave - it is pointless standing at the machine to do it, the machine won’t deal with any complaints.
Yes, and the camera on the machine would show you taking that money left behind. Plus they know who you are, because you used the machine next, so they have all your info.
When I was working at a bank, we got this regularly – the bank had a policy about it: the original person was credited for the money left behind; if the amount was less than $50, the bank just ate the loss, if over $50 the next person (who took the money) was identified and the amount debited from their account, and a note entered in their record in case they challenged the debit.
Given the cheap price of security cameras nowadays, it’s nearly a requirement for any well-run bank. In fact, to buy an ATM without an embedded security camera requires a special order from most ATM manufacturers now.
Actually, it was probably done without any human action at all – modern ATMs have built-in self-monitoring that will catch many such mistakes, and trigger an automatic correction entry. Used to be that they just sent a report to a bank clerk who checked it out and entered the needed corrections, but now the ATMs are so accurate it’s not worth the salary of having a clerk check this out when nearly all the time the ATM has correctly identified the error.
[quote=Ann Hedonia]
Then the purchase I was going to make fell through. I stll had the wallet full of cash and I was using it for spending money. After a day or so I counted it and I realized I stll had $900 or so left. And there were fifties mixed up with the twenties, my best guess is that whoever filled the machine had mixed in some 50’s with the twenties.l/quote]
Both of these happen because the cash is inserted into the machines in big drawers, which are all of one denomination – supposedly. But mistakes are made filling them, and then cases like this happen. (The newest ATMs can read the denomination of the bill as it is dispensed, and will catch errors like this.)
I’ve never had an ATM short me. A few friends have and they all eventually got the balance corrected but not in a time frame they appreciated.
My worst ATM experience was at a drive up ATM. I was withdrawing $400. The machine promptly launched the bills onto the ground and I had to run around a parking lot retrieving my windblown bills. Recovered it all and called the bank the next day. They told me ‘they were aware of the issue’ but not in a way that sounded like they planned on fixing it. I avoid that banks ATM’s
I tried to take $400 out of my Paypal. The ATM said the transaction was cancelled, did not go through, did not give me money or a receipt. So I went to another ATM. Declined NSF. First ATM took from the balance. Had to wait 7 days for a refund from Paypal. Was close to breaking down in the store, as it was pretty much the only money I had for the foreseeable future and was already not completely enough for mandatory back to school purchases for my sons. I’ve tried to do less with ATMs in the 2 years since.
In one of my banks, a machine counts out the exact bills and coins first, then hands it to the teller, who recounts it to the customer. If there is a mistake, I say let her deal with it, not me.
I have read that a common way of ripping people off at ATMs is the ‘dropped cash’ scam. As you withdraw your card from the machine, and before the notes come out, someone taps you on the shoulder and points to a twenty on the ground. You assume it’s dropped from your wallet when you pulled the card out and bend down to retrieve it - the scammer makes off with your cash from the machine.
In the UK, with chip and pin almost universal, the bank assumes that any cash taken from your account must be down to you - either you did it or someone who has your pin did. There have been cases of ATMs going mad though. Betfair, an online gambling company set one up as a promotion.
First time it happened was years ago probably 2010 I went to an ATM using my US debit card, got a slip that said $0 dispensed and assumed the machine was non-functioning and walked away to find another from the same branch(this branch’s ATMs were on the no fee list for my debit card). Well my wife was at home and she called me on my cell to say she just got an email showing I had withdrawn $100 USD and she wanted me to buy some groceries, I said whoa no it dispensed nothing!
I ran back to the branch and spoke to a manager, who said now how do you know the money was actually withdrawn from your account in a smirking manner. I said because this is a USA based account and I am emailed for every single account deposit or withdrawal, this changed her tune. To give context Trinidad based account are behind the moon on internet, and do not email you for actions you’d have to wait for your monthly printed statement to be mailed to you.
A long run around including them telling me to file a report with my bank when I am back in the USA(I was NOT a tourist) and me telling them that was impossible and me providing the slip showing $0 dispensed three times(photocopied it on my wife’s advice, love ya!) got my accout credited after multiple in person visits. I would have been BLEEPED if that was my last hundred.
Later searching the internet I found a thread on a traveler forum which had multiple people relating this exact same scenario.
I’ve had two ATM malfunctions in the last year, and both times the bank issued my account a credit to cover the mistake WITHIN ONE HOUR. I just went inside, told the teller what happened, and they made it right.
Both times, I was depositing cash and the machine miscounted how much cash I’d actually put it. Once it was off by $20 and the other time it was off by something like $500. It helped my case that I’m a well-established business customer, and also that I was able to describe exactly what denominations I had put into the machine. The issued me a “temporary” credit while they investigated, and a couple days later the temporary credit seamlessly turned permanent.
I asked if they planned to open up the machine and see whether my mangled money was stuck in the innards there. They said no, that’s a problem for the company who services the machines, not their problem. I think all they actually did was verify that I had in fact used that machine on that day at that time and they just took my word about how much money the machine ate.
Both of those times it was an ATM on the premises of the bank. I can imagine the wheels of justice would turn much more slowly if it had been a stand-alone ATM in a convenience store, not affiliated specifically with my bank. That’s one of the reasons I avoid machines of that type, plus not wanting to pay the transaction fees.
I once encountered a malfunctioning ATM machine - many, many years ago. I was desperate to get some money out for a cab late at night, and this was the only machine for a long distance; the guy ahead of me told me it wasn’t working, but I decided to try it anyway - it made a grinding sound and the edge of some bills peeked through the slot … we managed to pull a couple of hundred bucks in crumpled up wadded bills out of the slot. I split it with the other guy.
the amount you have withdrawn in that day, and the past 3 days.
the history on your account.
All this depends on communication with the bank network. If that communication is down, it defaults to a fixed maximum amount. Rather small (because you could come back repeatedly or go to other nearby ATMs) – used to be $75-$100.
I got shorted a 20 as well in my much younger days. But in my case I accidentally made a police report on it.
After I didn’t get all the bills, which I really needed in those days. It was a closed bank, and I was gonna be screwed. So I stuck my hand in as far as possible to cram around and see if it was crumpled in a corner or something.
Of course behind me I hear “What are you doing with that machine?”
So I explained to the officers what was going on, and they looked dubious. Finally one of the said “Well we can take a complaint” I thought turning it down might make them think I was guilty or something, So I bluffed and went through with the complaint.
I called the bank the next morning, and they said they had already received the complaint, but they were unable to credit to my credit union, So I would have to come down and pick up my 20 in person. So I did, even though I’m pretty sure it was just a “screw you” to me for filing a complaint about an ATM.
I did also once deposit an out of state check at my credit union ATM. It was supposed to have a 4 day hold for that on all but the first $100. But the ATM didn’t automatically do that, so I was used to the money being full credit until morning, when they manually put a hold on it after reviewing the check.
But that time, two days later I went to withdraw it said I had no money, I went in to complain. They looked into it and saw that the ATM reviewer had put a hold on the whole account, rather than the deposit -100. Which I suppose is technically an problem with a person not with a machine.
This has happened to me at least twice: once overseas and once at the ATM down the street from my house. Both times, the amount was credited instantly to the account while they sorted it out, and in both cases, the credit stuck.
In Thailand, 50,000 baht per day seems to be standard. At the current rate of exchange, that’s US$1500.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, the above is true, but you can get only 25,000 baht maximum per time. To get the maximum 50,000 baht, you have to use it twice. So I guess your answer for over here is 25,000 baht or $750.
I was shorted $2o once, years ago, and honestly didn’t even notice it at the time. The bill must have gotten stuck in the machine, and somehow the bank caught it because a few days later, they sent me a handwritten note explaining that I didn’t take my full withdrawal, and they just redeposited it into my account. This is a small town, and I actually went into the bank at that point, so they knew me on sight, which may have helped in that matter.
I think my max withdrawal is something like $600 per day, but I don’t think I’ve ever taken more than $200 out of an ATM.
There seem to be a lot of problems with this. First being how does the bank actually know who that person on the screen taking the money left behind is… all they would have is the ID info from the next card used. Would the bank actually go to the trouble of syncing the video with the time of the next transaction (for example if the video showed someone taking the cash but the next transaction didn’t happen until an hour later after that person walked off)?
Also, how do you know that next person is using their own card? Yes I know only the authorized person is supposed to use a particular card but people sending others they trust in to use their card is commonplace. I don’t think a bank would be able to yank money out of an account they simply assume belonged to an otherwise unidentified person on a video and then force that account holder to prove they didn’t steal someone else’s money prioir to using their card that day; that seems like an additional (and more serious) theft than what they started out trying to fix; why would the bank take on that kind of liability? It seems like something that would be against a lot of regulations. Perhaps the bank would try it hoping they didn’t get challenged… but I think if they were challenged even by the actual thief they’d pretty much be guarenteed to lose just on principal and proper procedures they have to follow.
Even ignoring the above, how does the bank know that person who took the money didn’t walk 10 feet off camera and give it to the person who left it? or to a police officer, or to someone who appeared to work for the bank… or to the smart opportunist who spotted the cash hanging in the machine but waited for the next person to pick it up, then approach that person and said “thanks I almost forgot that cash”… in other owrds impersonating the rightful owner and then walking off without leaving any identifying info. Seems really unfair (and illegal) to take money from a person’s account who tried to do the right thing and return someone else’s cash and simply made a mistake in who to give it to. That should be the court system’s decision, not the bank’s.
From my experience the most likely (and safest liability-wise) thing for a bank to do would be to simply tell the customer who left $200 in the bank machine there’s nothing they can do; they’re not responsible for the customer being careless with their money. There are a lot of ways people can find out what really happened, but 99% of the time they don’t bother because it’s simply not worth the effort.
About fifteen years ago, I had an ATM give me two books of stamps instead of two twenty dollar bills. I went down to the bank when they were open and got it fixed.
More recently, maybe 2-3 years ago, I was depositing some money into an ATM and it got stuck. Luckily it was an ATM attached to a bank and they were open at the time, so it was a fairly easy fix.