While the machete-wielding man who brutally attacked a woman in an ATM in Bengaluru is still at large, messages about how to protect yourself inside an ATM are trending on social media websites. Among other ‘tips’ doing the rounds, one of the most commonly forwarded ideas is punching in your PIN number in the reverse order. It goes on to say that doing so will send an SOS to the bank’s head office and the nearest police station.
For those of you who already tried this, you know that this is a complete hoax. Clarifying the ingenuity of punching in your PIN backwards, senior police officials in the city also emphasised on the need for people to be aware of this.
“Social media messages that direct users to reverse the PIN number to protect themselves from a robbery is a myth. Its somebody’s creation which is untrue,” they said, wishing to remain anonymous.
The police are still in pursuit of of the offender whose face was caught on the security camera located inside the unguarded ATM kiosk. But while they continue their efforts to apprehend the felon, ATMs and their security measures have been coming under fire. As it turns out, while the camera did get a bird’s eye view of the whole incident, it prevented the officials from being able to see the expressions on the faces. The felon’s image was obtained by zooming in on his face, but in many cases the image is too pixilated to get an accurate picture of the offenders.
Speaking about the same, City Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma, stated, “We cannot micro-manage things. The primary role of the camera inside the ATM kiosk is to capture the image of the person who is withdrawing money and not to prevent robbery.” The position of the cameras in ATMs is usually located near or on the ceiling, and thus does not capture a person’s facial features or expressions but just a top angle of their heads. And in most cases, the resolution quality is poor.
Explaining the complication, another official from the concerned wing added that these cameras ultimately were of little use. “The camera is not installed at the eye level and thus it does not capture one’s facial features. Rest of the harm is done by the backlight,” the official said under the condition of anonymity.
While the man-hunt continues, officials confess that security grabs don’t always make the task easier as the lack of definite features in the image make it hard to determine the actual identity of the perpetrator, and the felon does not necessarily belong to that city, hence locals can’t pitch in as much.
“We have such images and we have widely publicised them in the print and electronic media. Despite this, there is no information about such people. Even their enemies are not able to identify them,” the official added.
Instead, strengthening the security of ATM kiosks is the way forward. Hiring alert security guards and ensuring that they monitor the kiosk is the obvious first step. Suggests Sisir Shastra, a tech employee in the city, “It would also be better to position the ATM such that when a person comes in to make a transaction, their back doesn’t face the entrance. That way they can at least see if there’s someone attempting to create some trouble.”
Officials also pointed out that the lack of real-time connectivity between the CCTv cameras in ATM kiosks and the bank branch or the nearest police station was an obstacle in preventing such instances. Working towards that would also mitigate the problem.
The police have noted the isolated ATM kiosks around the city and are planning to bring up the issue of their security with the concerned banks. “We will be holding a meeting with bank managements to discuss the issue and sensitise them,” said Anurag Sharma.