Sainsburys Bank ATM Faulty or Cash Trapping Scam

djh

This incident is not over but I am a lot wiser after following MrFrugalFever  advice and tip. I did say I would leave feedback and I think it is important to share as widely as possible.I formally complained to Nationwide and Sainsbury Bank on the 09/11/2023 .They were rejected by both (it takes 15 days to go through the initial process) I have formally made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman yesterday. I will not name the store at this stage but it turns out there was a scramming device fitted to the ATM .The staff were initially cagey about my request for CCTV  and I believe have been told by the police to keep the issue quiet. The Duty Manager asked me which ATM I had used (there are 2) after I have correctly answered this question he told me they were holding a substantial sum at the store ( in the thousands) that was trapped in the ATM.There was a spring type device holding the cash inside the machine .When I mentioned I had successfully withdrawn 2 single £10 he said it probably only stopped a number of notes. I will be interested to find out Sainsbury Bank explanation . Just be careful these ATM machine are in a area covered by CCTV and busy . Use an ATM with extreme care . 

Eyeful

I do not use an ATM, because of this type of thing occurring. I get my cash over the local Post Office counter, when there is only a very small queue . Alternatively at the checkout when I do some shopping.

sausage_time

djh said:

This incident is not over but I am a lot wiser after following MrFrugalFever  advice and tip. I did say I would leave feedback and I think it is important to share as widely as possible.I formally complained to Nationwide and Sainsbury Bank on the 09/11/2023 .They were rejected by both (it takes 15 days to go through the initial process) I have formally made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman yesterday. I will not name the store at this stage but it turns out there was a scramming device fitted to the ATM .The staff were initially cagey about my request for CCTV  and I believe have been told by the police to keep the issue quiet. The Duty Manager asked me which ATM I had used (there are 2) after I have correctly answered this question he told me they were holding a substantial sum at the store ( in the thousands) that was trapped in the ATM.There was a spring type device holding the cash inside the machine .When I mentioned I had successfully withdrawn 2 single £10 he said it probably only stopped a number of notes. I will be interested to find out Sainsbury Bank explanation . Just be careful these ATM machine are in a area covered by CCTV and busy . Use an ATM with extreme care . 

Great news!  Please do keep us posted as to the outcome (which surely now must be positive).

djh

sausage_time said:

djh said:

This incident is not over but I am a lot wiser after following MrFrugalFever  advice and tip. I did say I would leave feedback and I think it is important to share as widely as possible.I formally complained to Nationwide and Sainsbury Bank on the 09/11/2023 .They were rejected by both (it takes 15 days to go through the initial process) I have formally made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman yesterday. I will not name the store at this stage but it turns out there was a scramming device fitted to the ATM .The staff were initially cagey about my request for CCTV  and I believe have been told by the police to keep the issue quiet. The Duty Manager asked me which ATM I had used (there are 2) after I have correctly answered this question he told me they were holding a substantial sum at the store ( in the thousands) that was trapped in the ATM.There was a spring type device holding the cash inside the machine .When I mentioned I had successfully withdrawn 2 single £10 he said it probably only stopped a number of notes. I will be interested to find out Sainsbury Bank explanation . Just be careful these ATM machine are in a area covered by CCTV and busy . Use an ATM with extreme care . 

Great news!  Please do keep us posted as to the outcome (which surely now must be positive).

Due to the new information I have also reported it to the police, officially.

brucefan_2

djh said:

This incident is not over but I am a lot wiser after following MrFrugalFever  advice and tip. I did say I would leave feedback and I think it is important to share as widely as possible.I formally complained to Nationwide and Sainsbury Bank on the 09/11/2023 .They were rejected by both (it takes 15 days to go through the initial process) I have formally made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman yesterday. I will not name the store at this stage but it turns out there was a scramming device fitted to the ATM .The staff were initially cagey about my request for CCTV  and I believe have been told by the police to keep the issue quiet. The Duty Manager asked me which ATM I had used (there are 2) after I have correctly answered this question he told me they were holding a substantial sum at the store ( in the thousands) that was trapped in the ATM.There was a spring type device holding the cash inside the machine .When I mentioned I had successfully withdrawn 2 single £10 he said it probably only stopped a number of notes. I will be interested to find out Sainsbury Bank explanation . Just be careful these ATM machine are in a area covered by CCTV and busy . Use an ATM with extreme care . 

I'm a bit puzzled by this.

If there's a spring installed inside an ATM to 'hold the cash inside the machine', how did the cash come to be dispensed and then drawn back into the machine. And how could a ne'er-do-well install such a spring in the ATM anyway?

And just how would it benefit the thief to have the cash 'trapped' in the ATM?

Whenever possible, I try to limit my ATM use to those actually installed inside bank premises during opening hours. I appreciate thi isn't always possible or practical for the majoriy of people.

If it's now possible to interfere with ATMs in even more unusual ways, it would be good to know

djh

I am also puzzled.The Cash Machines can only be accessed from behind the customer service desk ,only accessed by Staff or ATM personnel.
Why were customer services reluctant to answer my questions about CCTV.
Why have Sainsburys Bank Complaints Dept. rejected my claim out of hand.
Could the device have been installed from outside.
Why is the store holding the Cash.
Is there a Police Investigation?
How many other people affected ?
 Have they complained.
It seems £70 is not worth the trouble to some people.
I hope to get some answers .
I have reported to the Police (Theft/fraud) and also to the Financial Ombudsman .

brucefan_2

Back in November when this happened, did you immediately report the faulty ATM to CS staff inside the store?

All locations where ATMs are installed have protocols and processes in place for reporting faulty ATMs so that they can be shut down and/or appropriate service personnel called out.

If this ATM (possibly faulty, possibly tampered with) has 'collected' thousands of pounds of customers' money, it's unlikely that not a single one of them has complained in-store. Any such complaint should kick-start a defined series of actions to ensure that a) the security of the ATM has not been compromised and b) that the ATM is not faulty

Any staff member who might choose to not follow these procedures might very swiftly be looking for alternative employment..

So, was this ATM reported up through the system or not?

If a member of the ordinary CS staff in the store knows enough about an ATM issue to be able to inform you that it was only £10 over, that again begs the question of how he/she might know that.

These are questions that you should put in writing to whichever department you are in contact with. It will be interesting to see what answers you get.

born_again

djh said:

This incident is not over but I am a lot wiser after following MrFrugalFever  advice and tip. I did say I would leave feedback and I think it is important to share as widely as possible.I formally complained to Nationwide and Sainsbury Bank on the 09/11/2023 .They were rejected by both (it takes 15 days to go through the initial process) I have formally made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman yesterday. I will not name the store at this stage but it turns out there was a scramming device fitted to the ATM .The staff were initially cagey about my request for CCTV  and I believe have been told by the police to keep the issue quiet. The Duty Manager asked me which ATM I had used (there are 2) after I have correctly answered this question he told me they were holding a substantial sum at the store ( in the thousands) that was trapped in the ATM.There was a spring type device holding the cash inside the machine .When I mentioned I had successfully withdrawn 2 single £10 he said it probably only stopped a number of notes. I will be interested to find out Sainsbury Bank explanation . Just be careful these ATM machine are in a area covered by CCTV and busy . Use an ATM with extreme care . 

Store staff do not have access to ATM, that is done by a 3rd party.
Store staff seem to have no idea how a ATM works or how these devices work...
A spring device is there to trap cash & the person placing it would be close by to go & remove spring & cash after someone tries to take cash. Then replace it. 
Not leave it, as they are not designed to store cash.

If the non dispensed cash was in ATM, then dispute system would know about it. As part of the process is a balance check on cash in ATM & dispensed. Any not taken goes into a separate area & is then totalled up.

djh

Regarding Previous Comments.

I reported it at the time with Customer Services who gave me a Sainsbury Bank Complaints Guide.

It has to be reported to your own card issuer first.
I think store management may have access to the area where the ATM is sited not the actual ATM.
They found a device and cash inside the ATM area but external to the actual ATM (as I understand it).
The £10 over comment was made by SBS (Sainsbury Bank) Complaints dept. not store staff.
It took three weeks to go through the complaints process and rejection hence me approaching  store staff again.

I am posting this information mainly to inform anyone else this may have happened to or may want to search.

brucefan_2

I very much look forward to hearing the details of the eventual outcome and resolution.