Crooks Rob ATM Users With Glue Guns

No, they’re not pointing them into people’s backs and saying, “gimmie all your money,” but The San Francisco Examiner reports thieves using glue guns to rob ATM users are pulling off a “stickup” of another sort.

What some thieves in San Francisco are doing is gluing down the “enter,” “cancel” and “clear” buttons on ATMs. They then wait in hiding for a customer to put in their card and enter their PIN, and then get frustrated by the stuck buttons and go into the bank for help. That’s when the crooks strike, swooping forward to withdraw a bunch of cash from the account and then running off with it.

The confused customers do not know that they can continue (or cancel) the transaction with the touch screen. Four such thefts have been reported in the Richmond District area of San Francisco.

This is only one of several lo-fi ways thieves can jam up the ATM and take your cash. Another one involves stuffing napkins up in the money slot.

Glue-gun goons target unwary ATM users [SF Examiner] (Thanks to “dirtymoney”!)

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