Ugly Side of the ATM

Criminals are showing Nigerians the ugly side of the automated teller machine (ATM), the wonder machine that provides customers of a financial institution access to cash in a public space without the need for human clerk or bank teller.

The ATM is meant to facilitate financial transactions; decongest the banking halls; and for the holders to have access to their cash; as well as make life more convenient; among others.

But daily there are reports of Nigerians whose accounts have been mysteriously emptied by fraudsters as financial institutions and law enforcement agencies watch in awe.

As a result, public trust in the ATM has begun to dip as more and more account holders are returning to the banking halls for the services the ATMs are meant to provide.

Reports said that the fraudsters employ several modes of operations including obtaining information of the cardholder while they are on queue at the ATM.

The fraudsters target cardholders that expose their cards’ information which they copy and subsequently use it to defraud the ATM holders.

The criminals also send SMSes and emails purportedly emanating from switching companies asking the cardholders to register their cards’ details.

Once a cardholder compromises his details, his account is wiped clean.

Banks have not helped matters as they have continued to issue cards to customers regardless of their ability to use them.

The result is that many Nigerians have lost their entire savings to the one of the most common white-collar crimes now.

To curb the crime, banks and switching companies as well as law enforcement agencies must stay ahead of the criminals by continuously evolving systems and solutions to make the crime difficult.

There is also need to step up educations and awareness by banks and switching companies on the dangers of disclosing their cards’ details.

Banks and switching companies must rid their operations of some bad eggs who are sometimes accused of colluding with criminals to steal customers’ information.

On the part of the ATM holder, alert is the watch word. They should be conscious of their surroundings when using the ATM.

They should also avoid using ATMs located in obscure and dark areas.

ATM holders should avoid writing their personal identification number (PIN) on the card and must not insert their cards on the ATM until prompted to do so by the screen on the machine.

Importantly, ATM holders should never accept help from strangers when using an ATM.