ATM Scam

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bhanson

Golden Member
Jan 16, 2004
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This is quite old, but another thread reminded me of this incident for some reason.

I was at the DMV trying to register a car, but forgot they do not take credit cards and I never have any cash on me. The closest ATM is not from my bank but as much as I hate ATM fees, the fee was a better alternative than running around in an unfamiliar part of town looking for something else.

I swipe for $100, but it only dispenses $20 and the machine displays an "error." It still prints a receipt and still charges me the $3 fee. I'm wondering if it actually just charged me the fee or if it was just cosmetic (could be bad programming), but either way I'm still short what I need. I swipe again for $100 and this time it dispenses $40 before giving me the same error and charging me another $3 fee.

I save the receipts and scribble down the phone number on the ATM. I try calling but of course all I get is voicemail. I end up forgetting about it and ended up getting shafted.

Do you think this could be a deliberate scam? The machine was in some junky gas station.

TLDR:

Swipe ATM for $100
Machine gives $20, an "error", and still charges fee
Genius OP swipes again for $100
Machine gives $40 and same error, still charges fee
OP posts on AT after remembering 2 years later
 

Juked07

Golden Member
Jul 22, 2008
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My guess is it's just faulty. Doesn't sound like a very good setup for a scam.. They don't win very much money, they have to come restock the atm constantly, it's very visible/their contact info is all on there so easy to get caught, etc.

Maybe the posters below will have other insights I didn't think of though.
 
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