Friday, January 7, 2011

Be Careful When Using An Automatic Teller Machine

The rising crime rate is a serious source of concern now.
I myself witness a snatch theft incident in front of my eyes and it occur in split of second.
This happen so unexpectedly and no wonder the victim cannot see(remember) the theft bike plate number.
Crime also can happen you are making a transaction at theAutomatic Teller Machine(ATM).
crime Be Careful When Using An Automatic Teller Machine

Whenever you in the midst of making cash withdrawals at ATM counters, NEVER get distracted by other thing such as call out or tap on your shoulder!

The Police has warned the public to be aware of this scam.
atm-machine
The scam modus operandi is very simple.
The crime syndicates normally consist of a groups of two to three, including a woman.
They would scatter a few RM1 or RM10 notes on the floor near their intended victim while he or she in the midst of making cash withdrawals.
Usually the woman, would then call out or tap the victim on the shoulder to say that he or she had dropped the money.
As the victim get distracted and turns around or bends down to pick up the money on the floor, an accomplice would quickly swap the victim’s ATM card with a similar-looking card or take the victim’s card.
The unsuspecting victim would then collect the cash dispensed from the ATM and walk away with someone else’s ATM card while their own card is in the crooks’ possession.
When your ATM card is fallen to the organised crime syndicates, a lot of nasty thing could happen.
Read the below newspaper extract, for real life experience sharing.
Police has urged those approached in a similar fashion to stop their transaction immediately and contact the police or bank security.

In short, NEVER get distracted in the midst of doing ATM transactions.


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Cash gone after moment’s distraction

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PETALING JAYA: A moment’s distraction — that’s all it takes for one to fall victim to a scam that could lead to one’s bank account being wiped almost clean.
Police today warned of a scam whereby thieves have siphoned off thousands of ringgit after they cunningly steal ATM cards and PIN numbers from unsuspecting bank customers.
Unlike a hit carried out by organised crime syndicates using ATM card skimmers and sophisticated gadgets, the cases recorded by police nationwide involve a simple method.
A Bukit Aman police official told theSun the thieves would usually work in groups of two to three, including a woman.
"Their target are those in the midst of making cash withdrawals at ATM counters," said the official.
"One of them would scatter a few RM1 or RM10 notes on the floor near their intended victim while he or she in the midst of a banking transaction.
"One of them, usually the woman, would then call out or tap the victim on the shoulder to say that he or she had dropped the money.
"And just as the confused victim is distracted and turns around or bends down to pick up the money on the floor, an accomplice would quickly swap the victim’s ATM card with a similar-looking card, probably that of a recent victim.
"One of them would have earlier spied on the victim’s PIN number as it was being punched on the machine at the start of the transaction.
"The unsuspecting victim would collect the cash dispensed from the ATM and walk away with someone else’s ATM card while their own card is in the crooks’ possession."
In the latest incident on Feb 12, a 47-year-old newspaperman lost all his savings in three accounts at a bank.
The incident occured at about 4pm on Jalan Masjid Negeri in Penang, when C.H. Ng was withdrawing money using his ATM card.
Just as the machine was dispensing the cash, a woman tapped him on his shoulder and told him some money had fallen out from his pocket.
"I looked down and saw two RM10 notes and several RM1 notes on the floor near my feet," Ng said.
He quickly picked up the notes and thanked the woman and returned his attention to the ATM.
"To my relief, the money dispensed by the ATM machine was untouched. I had heard of similar cases where people lost their money after being momentarily distractedm" he said.
Ng said he retrieved the ATM card and left the bank with his money.
However, when he visited an ATM machine to withdraw money near his office in Petaling Jaya last Friday, he was shocked to find that the ATM card was not his but belonged to a woman.
He checked his accounts online and found that money from his three accounts had been wiped out and had balances of only RM2, RM5 and RM30, respectively.
Ng lodged a police report at the SEA Park police station in Petaling Jaya.
Police say one of the earliest reported case involving the same method was in June last year when a credit card agent last RM5,000 in Seri Gombak.
The victim told police he saw three Middle Eastern-looking people, including a woman, in the bank when he went to withdraw money at night.
Just as the machine was dispensing cash, a woman called out to him in a foreign language and pointed to some bank notes on the floor.
The victim initially did not pick up the money but the woman kept gesturing for him to pick up the notes and even indicated that she had back pain.
The victim reluctantly picked up the cash but the woman and a man standing behind him left the bank in a hurry.
The victim put the money back on the floor and turned to continue his banking transaction but it failed.
He ejected the card and re-inserted it into the slot and, to his suprise, the name that appeared on the screen was someone else’s.
By the time he called the bank to freeze his account, the thieves had withdrawn his money from another location.
Police urged those approached in a similar fashion to stop their transaction immediately and contact the police or bank security.
fr:sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=43664
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Police warn of new tactic to steal ATM cards

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KUALA LUMPUR: Police have come upon a new tactic by foreign badhats to steal automated teller machine (ATM) cards at ATM machines around Brickfields.

The gang is made up of two to three men and a woman all in their 30s.

Brickfields police district chief ACP Wan Abdul Bari Wan Abdul Khalid said their tactic was to stand close behind or beside to observe the victim withdrawing money.

"After the victim withdraws the money and begins to take the ATM card, one person will tap the shoulder of the victim and when the victim turns the suspect will tell the victim that his or her money had fallen on the floor. At the same time another person in the group will take the victim’s card or switch the card," Wan Abdul Bari told Bernama when contacted here today.

He said when the victim turns to look for the so-called money on the floor the suspects would flee and when the victim turns to the ATM machine he or she will find the card missing or would be unaware that the card had been switched with another card.

"When the victim checks the account balance he or she will find that money had been withdrawn from the account," he said.

"We advise people to be alert when withdrawing money especially in this festive season," he said.

Till now there had been four cases in the district.

Meanwhile, police have arrested a 20-year-old man who is believed to have sweet-talked and then stolen from several teenaged girls.

According to Wan Abdul Bari the suspect portrays himself as the son of a Tan Sri or Datuk over the Internet and coaxed the victims to go out with him.

"After several meetings, the victims will have confidence in the suspect. At some time the suspect would take the victim out and when she goes to the ladies, the suspect would tell her to leave her bag, laptop and valuables in his car.

"He then takes off with the things," he said.

He said police had seized a laptop, documents, car keys, various SIM cards, pen drives and several personal belongings of victims.

Besides that a police check revealed the suspect’s car was a vehicle reported stolen in Kota Damansara.

"The suspect is still under remand and will be brought to court soon," he said.

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