Beware when someone taps your shoulder

It was reported in the local newspaper of an ATM scam that happened here. A few ATM holders had their cards stolen and cash withdrawn. This was how it happened.

A syndicate consisting of a few men and a woman will be around the ATM preying on their victims. Some will watch and memorise the PIN keyed in by would-be victims. The role of the woman is to drop some notes on the floor and a man will tap the shoulder of the ATM holder who has completed his last step of transaction and is waiting for the money to come out of the machine. The woman will tell the one at the ATM that his or her notes have fallen on the ground. Should the victim stoop down to collect the cash, his or her ATM will be taken away and replaced with one not belonging to him or her. They will not take your cash and you will find nothing unsual as your cash is intact. Hence you take out the ATM card without realising that it is not yours.

The man will quickly take the victim's ATM card and withdraw money with the PIN memorised by his gang at other terminals. Later when you want to withdraw money again, you will be surprised that the ATM card is not yours. If you have Internet Banking, you will find that all your money has been withdrawn by someone.

Hence, I will advise readers of this blog to be aware of this scam and do the following in case someone tap your shoulder to distract you. What you should do is:
1 Concentrate on what you are doing. Take your card and cash first before attending to those crooks.
2 Ignore the money on the floor as they do not belong to you.

In this way, they have no way of stealing your card or even your money.