Security

ATM sprayed with hand sanitizer in Malaysia

photo provided by iStock

June 10, 2020

An ATM in a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,  became inoperable after a customer liberally sprayed the machine with hand sanitizer in an effort to avoid COVID-19 germs, according to a report in the Malay Mail. Once doused with the hand sanitizer, the ATM became inoperable, flashing a red "error" screen and causing customers to be concerned that the machine might short-circuit.

A representative from the shopping mall explained that the customer had used the hand sanitizer on the machine after misinterpreting a screen that reminded customers to wash their hands after performing transactions at the ATM.

Pictures of the disabled machine circulated on Twitter resulting in over 1,000 retweets.

Following the mishap, the shopping mall put up signs near the ATMs to inform people not to apply hand sanitizer directly onto the ATM.