ATM thefts in Sheffield Centre

[Dhimmi 10]

'Turning the screen off' would be easy to do with a thin layer of electrochromic film or glass. All the electronics and battery could be easily concealed in a slimline escutcheon, and could look completely convincing. Suitable material has been available for some time, and is used in windows and so forth. It's just a cheap variant of LCD technology.

 

May be this is a hoax, but I think it would be easy to pull-off such a scam, although those who could do it are generally in lucrative full-time employment!

 

I remember BASF in Germany developing an electronically controllable blue windscreen, which was a stupid idea because blue stops you seeing brake lights and red traffic lights, although you will see the Police coming after you!

[mediman 10]

The email in question was also received by Yorkshire Ambulance Service who in turn contacted South Yorkshire Police to see if this was a genuine scam, they confirmed that "it is a genuine scam that is ongoing" in Sheffield. So beware !.

[Cyclone 10]

Confirmed it yet have put nothing on their websites about it, neither have any banks.

Was the 'confirmation' appended at the bottom of the original email, did it promise that microsoft would donate $5 to charity every time the email was forwarded?

[HotPhil 10]

Confirmed it yet have put nothing on their websites about it, neither have any banks.

The SNT published it.

But it does all sound so like one of the silly emails that comes round and gets swallowed up by people.

They're harmless enough I guess and at least serve to remind those who aren't techy-savvy to be careful with their security.

[Pipine 10]

I know there are alot of fake emails going around these days and its best to take most things with a healthy dose of cynicism but how much proof do people need to believe a genuine warning!?! The police have said its true! Its on the SNT website! Do you need to be personally robbed at a cash machine before you believe it?

[saxon51 10]

What confuses me with this whole thing is this; if the person using the ATM is unaware that anything is being plotted around them, and they go into the bank to complain about the machine going off, then come back out of the bank and find their card gone .... then who is it who has seen:

 

Two asian males and one white male are following individuals to the cash points. The two asian males are in their late 20's early 30's, one is approx 5' 8" to 5' 10" and medium build whilst the other is approx 6' tall with a bigger build. The white male is also in his late 20's to early 30's. We have no further description of this male.

 

Once at the machine, one of them stands behind the person making the withdrawl or at an alternative machine if two are situated together and waits for them to put their card into the machine and enter their pin number.

 

Once they have seen the pin number, they are somehow turning the screen off on the cash point. Police have no idea how they are doing this and the banks are also baffled. The machine then appears to the customer has having crashed.

 

The customer is then entering the bank to report that the machine has crashed and taken their card. As soon as this happens, one of the males is turning the machine screen back on and taking the card. They are then going to the nearest bank and carrying out the maximum withdrawal available.

... in such great detail (it obviously isn't the victims) and why haven't they alerted the ATM user as to the suspicious three?

 

It is all obvious cobblers.

[Dhimmi 10]

What confuses me with this whole thing is this; if the person using the ATM is unaware that anything is being plotted around them, and they go into the bank to complain about the machine going off, then come back out of the bank and find their card gone .... then who is it who has seen:

 

... in such great detail (it obviously isn't the victims) and why haven't they alerted the ATM user as to the suspicious three?

 

It is all obvious cobblers.

CCTV? Just a thought, and the bank machines themselves often have built-in cameras.

[verydull 10]

so wheres the e fits of these people?

[saxon51 10]

Or at least CCTV stills.

[HotPhil 10]

I know there are alot of fake emails going around these days and its best to take most things with a healthy dose of cynicism but how much proof do people need to believe a genuine warning!?! The police have said its true! Its on the SNT website!

Individual Police have been hooked in by these kind of hoaxes before. The mail's just too unbelievable - Banks are "baffled" as to how it's being done but know enough to say that one of the gang is turning back on the screen? If they knew he was turning off/on the screen either via a witness or a camera, you'd think they'd have a "further description of this male". If it had any kind of factual basis, someone from a bank would have been quoted.

[dosxuk 10]

I shall believe the story when it actually happens to someone. I'm assuming it hasn't yet due to the fact nobody on here has posted that it's happened to them or their friend, and the Star / other media haven't interviewed anyone it's happened to. It also seems to be exlusively a Sheffield thing, with no reports of it happening anywhere else.

 

The police don't even seem to have confirmed it, just used it as an opportunity to remind people to be aware of who is around them when using cash machines.

 

[ATM thefts] are rare; thousands of safe transactions are made every day at cash points across the city. However I would advise anyone using cash machines to be vigilant and be aware of people around you. Always cover the keypad when you type in your PIN number, and check that other people in the queue are a reasonable distance away from you when making your transaction. If you think, someone is acting suspiciously around a cash point please report it to the bank.

 

I would also hope that any machines this has been recorded happening to are switched off permenantly until the banks are no longer baffled about this problem. There are enough other safeguards in the machines, and I'd imagine the banks could be liable for any theft of cards which occur due to a fault on their machine.

[Cyclone 10]

When I first heard about this, I was a suspicious as anyone else. I checked all the usual scam-revealing sites (Snopes, etc.) and Googled various sections of the email, and nothing turns up except a link to this discussion

 

Unfortunately, having checked with a few people in the know, it seems that this particular warning is worth heeding. It has actually happened in the last few days in Sheffield.

 

You appear to be the first post on this thread that actually said it was definitely real.

 

What happened then, it never made it into the news, after a few days the stupid emails stopped and this thread died away.

 

Another thread made me think of it, so, you know that it actually happened? How come it was never reported?