Amid fears surrounding the withdrawal of money after the mugging of Jyothi Uday, a bank manager at an ATM kiosk at Corporation Circle here recently, a message has been spreading like wild fire through social networks and SMSes.
“If anybody happens to threaten you at an ATM, don’t try to resist. Enter your PIN in the reverse order: If your PIN is “1234” then enter “4321”. This will automatically send a signal to the head office and the nearest police station WITHOUT the notice of the culprit,” the message reads.
The message further states, “...this is a system imbibed at all ATMs.”
However, bank officials clarified that punching the PIN in the reverse does not send out a distress signal.
Senior Manager of Canara Bank (Yelahanka), Chandrappa said, “Customers are only provided a PIN and no other code to access their account details and for transactions at ATMs. It is not true that the head office receives a signal.” Acknowledging the rumour, DGP (CID) Bipin Gopalakrishna termed the message ‘nonsensical’.
“Such content easily spreads because it comes across as a solution, especially in the wake of a brutal incident,” he said.
He suggested that people, on receiving these texts, approach the nearest police station and file a complaint that would be routed to the Cyber Crime Department. Our officials will take necessary steps,” he added.
Source: http://newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/Reversed-ATM-pin-does-not-send-distress-signal%E2%80%99/2013/11/26/article1911812.ece
