A man was recently arrested this week in Milpitas on charges of being an ATM shoulder surfer and withdrawing money from ATMs after people had left the ATM without making sure that their session had ended.
Here is the article
Milpitas post reports
“The preliminary investigation revealed the victims used an ATM at the bank on Jan. 2 and might have inadvertently walked away from the ATM before the session was closed, police said.
After the victims completed a transaction and obtained a receipt, they walked away from the ATM believing the session was done. But, there was a prompt on the ATM screen that inquired if another transaction was desired, and the prompt may remain on the screen for several seconds, even after the ATM user has walked away, police said.
Only the PIN is required to conduct another transaction, and if someone is watching the ATM user, the PIN can be obtained. This practice is sometimes called “ATM shoulder surfing.”
So in short if you are at an ATM, please make sure that you wait till the session ends and you see the welcome screen again.
In another analogy, many people close their Garage door by the remote and drive away while the garage door is in the process of closing. Sometimes the door may not close due to some obstruction in the way and may open up and stay open for an extended time since the owners have driven away. A robber can also use this technique to get access inside your home by throwing in some obstruction while the door is closing to prevent the door from closing. So please make sure your garage door has closed before you drive away. 🙂
Testing Second Innings