• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Close call at the ATM

hbarcat

hbarcat

Supporting Member
Aug 24, 2006
10,227
18,610
Rochelle, Illinois
#1
I went to a drive up ATM this morning to check the balance in my bank account and inserted my VISA card in the slot.

The screen prompted me to enter my PIN, which I did. The screen then displayed "OUT OF SERVICE" and quit responding.

I hit "cancel" and "clear" but the machine didn't respond, so I tried to retrieve my card from the slot, but it was stuck.

I tried yanking on it but the machine had it locked and it wouldn't budge. No amount of button pushing or card yanking could give me my card back.

A woman pulled up behind me to use the ATM, but I told her what was going on and she drove off.

By this time, I had given up on getting my card back and I couldn't go into the bank to inform them of the situation because they were closed.

I was worried that if I drove away, anybody who tried to use the ATM could potentially steal my card and then use it to drain my bank account. A good portion of my card was clearly visible and it would make an easy target for an unscrupulous person to take it.

I called a friend who lived nearby and asked them to drive over and bring me a pair of pliers.

While I was waiting, a few more cars drove up and I told them the machine was out of order and they drove away, as well.

With nothing to lose while waiting for my friend to show up, I kept pushing buttons and yanking on my card to try to retrieve it. After about five minutes of this, a bunch of computer gibberish (coded error messages) appeared on the screen and my card popped out of the slot. This happened just as my friend showed up.

This could have been a disaster. Every honest person who tried to use the ATM after me would have discovered a broken down machine with a card stuck in the slot and then driven away.

But eventually, a dishonest person would have come upon it and realized that they had an opportunity to steal my card and drain my bank account. All they had to do was get a pair of pliers and rip the card out by force. Even if it was damaged, it would still be possible to read the card number, expiration date, and security code.

And because it's a debit card and not a credit card, there's much less in the way of fraud protection. It also wasn't my bank where the ATM was located so there was even less chance of being protected.

I thought this sort of thing isn't supposed to happen. How can an unresponsive ATM keep your card captive with half of it sticking out for anybody to see and potentially take?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: murphy and JRA
#4
Electronics break, as we discussed in your thread about cell phones. We can't hold them to unrealistic expectations.
If you find yourself in this situation again but can't retrieve your card, you can call your financial institution and ask them to lock or cancel your card. Some financial institutions have apps that will let you lock a card, report it lost/stolen/etc. This will give you peace of mind that no one can use that card so you can get on with your day and not stuck trying to figure out how to get your card back.
If your current financial institution doesn't have that kind of service 24/7 or an app, for your protection you may want to consider switching to a new financial institution.

-Mike
 
  • Like
Reactions: roccobass, hrodbert696, Alik and 3 others
#5
MJ5150 said:
Electronics break, as we discussed in your thread about cell phones. We can't hold them to unrealistic expectations.
If you find yourself in this situation again but can't retrieve your card, you can call your financial institution and ask them to lock or cancel your card. Some financial institutions have apps that will let you lock a card, report it lost/stolen/etc. This will give you peace of mind that no one can use that card so you can get on with your day and not stuck trying to figure out how to get your card back.
If your current financial institution doesn't have that kind of service 24/7 or an app, for your protection you may want to consider switching to a new financial institution.

-Mike
Click to expand...


I agree with everything you said here. If I hadn't been able to retrieve my card, the first thing I would have done was go online and cancel it and report it as lost/stolen. There's an easy way to do that in about one minute.

My biggest concern was leaving it unattended for the 10 minutes it would have taken me to go home and get online with my bank account password (which I didn't have with me).
 
  • Like
Reactions: MJ5150
#7
I'd still talk to your bank, and probably request a new card/cancel this card. Because it's not out of the realm of thought that whatever ATM you were at was in some way compromised.

On the far fetched or at least high resources required side, consider all the data that could be acquired by a false-flag ATM (but I'd expect that to use a full-card-eating mechanism like the current one at my credit union, rather than leave half sticking out.) Drop it at a closed bank location where the signs haven't been taken down Saturday afternoon, pick it up Sunday night, do it again somewhere else...

Buggy software or "believed to be secure software that isn't quite as secure as believed" are more plausible, unless you think of bank software as being magically impregnable.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gaolee, Winslow and hbarcat
#8
You may want to change your PIN as well as a precaution. There is still the risk of people using card skimmers and the ever smaller cameras on ATMs. It’s common practice to check for these devices regularly but you never know when things mess up. It’s a pain but it would give you extra piece of mind.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oddly and hbarcat
#12
RoadieP said:
If you don't make a transaction or drive away, modern ATMs will just seize your card. No one is pulling up and taking everything from someone else's account anymore
Click to expand...



That's what's supposed to happen

Except this ATM suddenly went from "PLEASE ENTER YOUR PIN#" to "OUT OF SERVICE" in an instant, and then kept my card stuck in the slot with half of it sticking out in plain sight for about ten minutes.

While I was there guarding my card, several people drove up to use the ATM. If I had left, any one of those people could potentially have forced my card out of the slot and used it to drain my bank account.

Modern technology is great - when it works. Until it doesn't. Then it's not so great.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back