Daily Archives: August 27, 2012

“New and Improved” Kinecta Federal Credit Union ATM Machine Crashes and Strands Customer

by Michael D. Robbins
Director, Public Safety Project

http://PublicSafetyProject.org/
Twitter: @PSP_USA

August 27, 2012 at 6:34 PM PT

What do you do when the automated teller machine (ATM) you are using crashes and hangs up on you, freezing your personal banking account information on the display, and holding on to your ATM card? This is exactly what happened to the user of a Kinecta Federal Credit Union ATM machine located at 1970 E. Imperial Highway in El Segundo, California on Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 8:16 p.m.

She completed her first transaction, printing an account balance, without any problems. But when she tried to perform a second transaction, the ATM locked up on her and the keypad became non-responsive. No matter which buttons she pressed, the ATM machine would not clear her personal banking information from the screen, and it would not release her ATM card. Bummer!

A look inside the card slot with a flashlight revealed no visible evidence of the ATM card. It was transported somewhere inside the ATM, probably for security purposes.

This raised multiple concerns. If she left the machine, could someone else later have access to her accounts, withdraw cash from each account, and get her ATM card?

The adjacent Kinecta ATM machine had an even stranger situation. … Continue reading →