The latest ATM scam involves thieves putting a thin, clear, rigid
plastic
‘sleeve’ into the ATM card slot. When you insert your card, the
machine
can’t read the strip, so it keeps asking you to re-enter your PIN
number.
Meanwhile, someone behind you watches as you tap in your number.
Eventually
you give up, thinking the machine has swallowed your card and you walk
away.
The thieves then remove the plastic sleeve complete with card, and
empty
your account. The way to avoid this is to run your finger along the
card
slot before you put your card in. The sleeve has a couple of tiny
prongs
that the thieves need to get the sleeve out of the slot, and you’ll be
able
to feel them. The police would like as many people as possible to be
aware
of this scam, so pass this on to your friends.
Excuse me… “just assume that the machine has swallowed your card”???
I don’t think so. Sorry, when you press cancel on the ATM it cancels the transaction, and will give you your card back. If the card is stuck, it shuts the ATM machine down totally. I don’t really see how this will work…
The other popular scam in the UK is common at ATMs near pubs at late evening: when you’re a bit tipsy, someone watches you enter your PIN over your shoulder, then when you’re card is returned asks whether a £20 note (genuine) that is on the ground belongs to you. As you pick up the note, they swipe the card. Drunk ATM users won’t notice their card is missing, since the ATM still delivers their money (as the card has been withdrawn) and they’ve made £20 on top.
Friend of mine lost £500 in 10 minutes that way. Thieves cleaned out his account at two other ATMs.
I’ve only ever had e-mails saying that (crusoe’s post) will happen to me, never heard a first-person cite.
A solution is to put your foot on the note, turn briefly to the kind soul saying you’ve dropped a £20, say ‘thank you’ - take your money and your card and then pick up the £20*
I’ve had a machine swallow a card on me twice. The first time I entered the wrong pin number three times in a row. I had recently changed it and I was rather stoned… It pretty much just flashed a blank screen at me and then the welcome screen came up for the next customer. It was the middle of the night and there wasn’t much I could do so I just shrugged and walked away.
The second time I flat out drove away from a drive-up without realizing it. I didn’t even know I’d done it until I went to use it again and couldn’t find it anywhere. Both times I had to go to the bank during working hours to retrieve it, but I never even thought to call right at that moment. (and I don’t know that I can recall ever seeing an emergency phone by an ATM) I don’t see what calling some number in non-working hours is going to accomplish. About the only thing they could say is “Well, your card is currently stashed inside a large steel machine. Unless you have some dynamite on you, you’ll come back when the bank’s open and we’ll return it.”
Are there really emergency phones? Anyone ever called one, and what did they do to help?