News

Strange-but-true ATM news

A collection of recent strange-but-true ATM-related news includes a couple of bad cops, a receipt with way too many zeroes, a trigger-happy cardholder and proof that most ATM keypads could stand a good dose of disinfectant.

May 5, 2004

Editor's note: Following are some of the strangest items recently encountered by this editor during her daily searches for ATM-related news. ATMmarketplace collects these odd stories and publishes them on a regular basis in hopes of tickling our readers' funny bones. For more of the same, see Unlucky in ATM crime.

'Never seen numbers that big'

John Jaunese couldn't believe it when a receipt he obtained from an Arlington, Wash., ATM showed him $9 million in the red on March 20.

"I'd never seen numbers that big," he said during a KOMO News report.

Jaunese had made a $500 deposit, but the ATM showed his account was more than $9 million overdrawn. "They (the bank) got my attention, they sure did," he said.

After he got the receipt, Jaunese went home and checked his BECU accounts on his computer. That information showed him nearly $1 billion in the hole on each of his accounts.

Jaunese had to go without cash over the weekend. He called the credit union first thing on Monday morning.

The credit union told him that a computer program kicked out his account because of unusual activity. His address and phone number had changed, so when BECU couldn't reach him, it put a hold on his accounts. For the customer, that comes up as all 9's.

Now that the matter is settled, Jaunese is looking at the bright side; he made a lot of money -- at least on paper. "It's more than Bill Gates made today!" he said.

Bad boys

A Bronx cop was charged on March 24 with pocketing a suspect's ATM/debit card and PIN and using them with a friend to withdraw $1,800 in cash.

According to a report in the New York Post, Officer Russell Argilla, 30, was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court on charges of official misconduct, grand larceny, petit larceny, identity theft, unlawful possession of personal identification information, criminal possession of stolen property, falsifying business records, and computer trespass.

The seven-year NYPD veteran, who was assigned to the Bronx Anti-Crime Unit, is accused of stealing an Orange County Trust debit card and paper containing a PIN from a man he arrested last Oct. 28.

Argilla allegedly slipped the two items out of the suspect's wallet after he asked the man to produce identification; within hours he and his accomplice began using them to make ATM withdrawals, sources said. The two withdrew and split about $1,800 between Oct. 28 and Nov. 1, 2003.

Their alleged victim, Isaac Brown, was still in custody when some of the withdrawals were being made, according to the Post.

Argilla and his buddy, who was identified in court papers as Jason Kearns, also used a computer or computer service owned by Brown for illegal purposes, according to a 55-count indictment handed up against the two by a Bronx grand jury.

Argilla's arrest grew out of a complaint Brown filed with the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau, officials said. Argilla is also being charged with failing to list Brown's debit card on a property voucher, and failing to notify his supervisors and the IAB after Brown reported that his debit card was missing.

Argilla was placed on modified assignment during the probe. He was suspended from the force after his arrest. He was released on his own recognizance after his arraignment hearing.

If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison on each on the grand-larceny, computer-trespass and identity-theft charges against him. The indictment lists 22 counts of computer trespass.

All charges against Brown were dropped for lack of evidence.

Bad boys II

A New Orleans police officer who admitted that he threatened to arrest two people if they didn't hand over cash from a French Quarter ATM faces at least three years in prison.
According to a Times-Picayune report, Michael Whetstone, 52, pleaded guilty March 23 to 10 felony charges, including multiple counts of public bribery and extortion, in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court.

Whetstone, an 8th District officer with about four years on the job, entered the plea at his arraignment hearing. Sentencing is set for July 8.

He faces mandatory prison time of one to 15 years for each of the three extortion charges.
He also pleaded guilty to three counts of public bribery, two counts of malfeasance in office and two counts of filing false public records. Each charge carries up to five years in prison.

A second 8th District officer, Sidney Webb, faces the same 10 felonies for allegedly extorting money in the same scheme. Webb denies the charges, according to the Times Picayune.

Whetstone and Webb were arrested in January after complaints filed by two "citizens in the French Quarter" were investigated, police said. On three occasions, police said, one or both of the officers took someone to an ATM and extorted $300 each time.

One victim was forced to withdraw money once, and the other was taken twice to the ATM. The crimes took place on Dec. 18 and 20. 

At the time, Whetstone and Webb were working on the 8th District Task Force. Both officers were suspended without pay, pending review by Superintendent Eddie Compass.

Blowing it -- literally

Three Fort Smith, Ark., men are suspected of unsuccessfully trying to break into an ATM on March 24 by blowing it up.

According to a report in the Fort Smith Times Record, an explosive device of some type was used to blow up an ATM at First National Bank at about 3:50 a.m. The explosion caused extensive damage to the machine, but the money remained safely locked inside, said Fort Smith police Sgt. Jarrard Copeland.

Smoke and flames were coming from the machine when Fort Smith police arrived at the scene, a police report states. An officer used a fire extinguisher to douse the flames.

Police discovered two pieces of burned cloth at the scene. They also found that the lenses on all but one of the security cameras near the machine had been covered with green paint.

Police believe the suspects painted the lenses thinking they could avoid being caught on camera -- but they missed one of the cameras. Images from that camera showed two men approaching the machine, then flames coming from the machine shortly afterward.

Upon further investigation, police discovered that one of the men on camera was also pictured in photos on two earlier visits to the machine. On the first visit, about 11 p.m. March 23, the man used his ATM card to make a transaction -- allowing police to obtain his name and address.

"It makes our job a little easier when people do something like that," Copeland said.

Darrell Spencer, 21, was later arrested at his residence. After talking with Spencer, police went to the home of a second suspect, 18-year-old Christopher Treadway. When officers visited Treadway, they noticed that his hair was singed on the left side of his head.

"It became apparent pretty quick that he was involved," Copeland said.

Only two suspects are seen in the security camera photos, but Copeland said police determined during their investigation that a third person, 19-year-old Lorenzo Padilla, was also involved. Like the others, he was arrested on March 24.

All three suspects were booked into the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center on suspicion of criminal mischief and possession of an explosive device.

Damage from the explosion is believed to be between $50,000 and $75,000, according to the Times Record report.

Candid camera

A man who took out his frustrations on Kansas City, Kan., ATM by kicking it has made it easier for police to track him down, according to a report in the Kansas City Star.

The machine's surveillance camera captured the incident, including photos of the man looking directly into the camera and kicking the machine. The man is pictured "beating the tar out of the machine," said Police Detective Mike Brown.

Following the Feb. 29 incident, bank employees discovered the damage and found a driver's license stuck in the card reader.

Police Detective Mike Brown said the bank reported that a woman called, saying her husband had lost his license in the machine. She came by the bank and picked it up. Bank employees failed to write down the information from the license, and police were trying to determine whether the owner of the driver's license and the vandal were the same person.

The photos show what appears to be a white man in his 20s with short hair and a goatee. He is wearing a baseball cap with the letters KC, a dark jacket and a baseball shirt with the word "Shady" across the chest.

"You can't get much better than that," Brown said of the photos.

While the man did not get any money from the ATM, he caused more than $2,300 damage to the machine. Brown said he will probably be charged with criminal damage to property, if caught.

"He must be one heck of a kicker," Brown said.

Try anger management

A man apparently angered after an ATM transaction went wrong fired 10 shots into the Fendalton Westpac Trust branch in Christchurch, Australia with a .22 rifle early April 5.

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald,the incident happened at 5 a.m.; no one was in the bank at the time. Police believe the man used the ATM outside the bank and then pulled out a .22 rifle and fired into the bank.

The bank was riddled with bullet holes but still opened for business.

Paul Gregory from the Westpac Trust Bank said they were stunned by the shootout and don't know yet if it was a lack of funds, or some other irritation that prompted the attack.

"In essence, somebody had an interaction with our ATM machine which they didn't much enjoy and came back with a gun," he said. "We understand that there's some frustration involved from time to time in dealings with ATM for whatever reason, but it does seem like quite an extreme reaction."

Police are now looking at security footage and say there will be extra security guarding the bank until the damaged glass has been replaced.

Ewwww

A recent survey found that the ATMs are breeding grounds for germs as the keypads contain tens of thousands of germs.

According to a report in the China Post, the National Yangming University and Super Laboratory Co. surveyed 38 ATMs in metropolitan Taipei in 2003. Most of the machines are located in residential areas and about 63 percent of them are indoors.

The survey found that each key on an ATM keyboard contains 1,200 germs on average.

The number of germs was higher at an outdoor ATM with 1,600 per keypad; an indoor keypad has some 965 germs.

According to the survey, more than 60 percent of the germs are Gram-positive and about 25 percent are various types of molds.

Researchers from Super Laboratory suggested that banks should sterilize ATMs at least twice daily at indoor sites and three times daily at outdoor locations.

Researchers cautioned that public phones and the computer keyboards at Internet cafes are also breeding grounds for germs and molds. Those who tend to rub their eyes or faces after using this equipment are more prone to develop skin infections and irritations.

Previous surveys showed that a public phone receiver contains more than 100,000 germs and a computer keyboard has at least 70,000 germs per key.

Doctors said washing hands frequently with soap is the only way to get rid of germs and viruses, according to the China Post.