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ATM crime alert system not catching on

July 10, 2005

Chicago Tribune: Crime notification at ATMs has failed to ignite public ire, but Joe Zingher is doing his best to light the fuse. Eight years ago Zingher patented Safety PIN to enable people who have been abducted to alert authorities as they extract cash from an ATM to give to their captors. The victim enters his PIN in reverse order, which allows the machine to dispense cash while sending a message to police that identifies the customer and the ATM location.

Law enforcement groups have endorsed the idea and Illinois passed a law supporting Safety PINs, but the law was watered down to make implementation optional. No banks have taken the option.

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