Thieves attempted a 'cash trapping' fraud on me at a Post Office ATM......BEWARE!

useless_git_requires_wife

Note: this is a duplicate. I have posted this thread in the 'Budgeting and Bank Accounts' forum, but since it was a Post Office ATM I thought I would repost it here as I know that things such as DLA and Carer's Allowance are often collected from these machines. The device used was designed to fit only a Post Office bank machine (though the type of fraud could probably be made to work with most bank machines).



It happened yesterday.


Until now I'd never heard of 'cash trapping' in relation to ATM fraud so I'm starting this thread to increase awareness.

Here's what happened......

I went to use the machine. As usual, I checked the part where you put the card for signs of anything unusual....it all looked normal. The transaction (withdrawl of cash) all proceeded as normal....the machine counted the money, my card was returned and then it said 'please take your cash' or whatever....but it never came out .

When I looked at the point where the money is supposed to come out everything looked as normal, it was just that the silvery metallic flap hadn't risen up to spit out the money.....then the machine displays 'out of order' (it reset itself after 3 or 4 minutes and was ready to be used asgain). So at first I'm thinking hmmmm, perhaps it's because it's a bank holiday and the machine has run out of money or something. I had received a receipt from the machine however, telling me that the money had been paid out. I then examined the money 'exit flap' more closely and when I touched it I realised it had an overly plastic feel to it and that it also didn't appear to fit quite as flushly as one would expect. It was just the right colour though, and absolutely looked like it belonged to the machine until I REALLY examined it.

Long story short I called the police to explain what was going on and I stayed at the machine to stop others using it till they arrived (about 25 people came to try and use it during this period).

Later on, the police managed to remove the attachment and my money was sitting behind it. This means that the thief would have been able to simply take my money without even having to put a card in the machine.....just remove the false flap, collect the money and walk off.

So, please be very vigilant in inspecting these 'exit flaps' as well as the entrance point for your card.

p.s.....there is quite a bit more to the incident I'm not mentioning since the police are investigating and it may be best not to go into details. Suffice to say, though, that this type of crime requires the thief (or thieves) to be fairly close at hand. If this happens to you, just make sure that you call the police immediately and do as advised.

savemoney

Well done OP. Glad the thieving scum sucker didn't benefit

TrixieB

Crud. My boyfriend had this happen to him last week at a Santander cash point - brand new and only been in about a week - and we did walk off, happened just like your experience except the card didn't come back out? then closed the machine down...

will have to tell him to thoroughly check him statement just in case