Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
How A Distraction Robbery Occurs
My cousin sent me a link to a video on Facetube showing an old man having his card stolen at a cash point. It looks like the thieves ultimately stole £23,000 from the man (if I got that right).
What is interesting is how it happened, and this links shows exactly how the old chap was distracted and how the 'team' that did it operated. At one point the old man is directed to something on the floor ('mate, you have dropped a £20 note!')...
It is sad to watch, not least because it shames me to think there are folks out there this cynical, but also because it is so easily done... It might be worth watching, if only to be aware how this happens and how to protect yourself.
Tags for Forum Posts: bank machines, santander cash machines
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sapphireblue on
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This happened to me earlier this year in Hermanus (Garden Route) South Africa. The police told me the guys involved(2) are usually highly trained. The cash point was in English and Afrikaans and (what I thought was a kind man) leaned forward as I had pressed the wrong button, he told me I'd done it wrong and pressed a couple of keys for me and then told me to put my pin in again. My mind had been far away so I wasn't really concentrating. The guy looked smart like an African businessman, white shirt, tie, grey slacks. I put my pin in (covered by my hand as usual -but apparently they are trained to work out where your fingers go even if you cover it up). I carried on and he walked off, but it still didn't work so 'another' guy behind me in the queue leaned forward and 'helped' me, I put my pin in again, but the screen was now all in Afrikaans. I thought' bugger what's wrong?' and then decided to take my card out and start again.... NO CARD. NO guy behind me either. A lady from the chemist next door who was also behind then told me I'd been scammed, she said she was suspicious of these guys 'helping' me as she's seen it before.
They took the card to another cashpoint which they must have driven to. Within 20 minutes. ...got away with £300. Meanwhile I was in the chemist using their phone to try and cancel my card - it took me 30 minutes to get through to someone at Barclays to do it. I later had a big dispute with Barclays about the whole thing as they refused to email me a form (I was travelling around??? 'We'll have to post it to your address'....). Every time I phoned them I had to press 10 button this 10 that (SKYPE calls) and then get put through to some untrained person in India who'd require unlimited explanations... I did eventually get my money back, but the process of getting it was time consuming and tortuous for someone travelling. They gave me £120 compensation eventually when I got home as I made a formal complaint, but it cost me more as I had to use my credit card to get cash out and every time I got charged £5 plus a percentage charge on the amount. BE Warned.
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Permalink Reply by Ian Craine on
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The £20 note scam actually happened to me at the Santander cashpoint in Green Lanes. There WAS a £20 note on the ground. I managed to distract the distracters and they ran off. Leaving me with their £20 note which proved to be real and not a forgery.
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