Police: Beware of Strangers Offering Help During ATM Issues

West Jakarta Metro Police have reminded the public to increase vigilance when transacting at ATM booths and not to easily accept offers of help from strangers when encountering difficulties, in order to avoid the ‘ATM skimming/obstructing’ theft modus operandi.

This advisory follows the apprehension of four suspects belonging to an ATM obstruction syndicate that drained citizens’ accounts of up to hundreds of millions of rupiah.

“Our message to the public is that if you are withdrawing money from an ATM and find that your ATM card cannot be inserted, do not immediately trust unknown individuals offering assistance. It is suspected they are part of this network,” said West Jakarta Metro Police Chief, Kombes Pol. Nasriadi, when confirmed in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Nasriadi explained that these criminals deliberately exploit the victim’s panic when an ATM card is stuck or cannot be inserted due to a toothpick obstruction previously placed in the machine.

To anticipate similar crimes, the public is requested to only seek assistance from official banking staff if they encounter problems with an ATM machine.

“If an issue occurs with the ATM machine, do not ask just anyone for help. Request assistance from bank security or official banking personnel on duty, as they are the ones who understand the situation better,” said Nasriadi.

Previously, the West Jakarta Police arrested four members of an ATM obstruction syndicate that had drained victims’ funds by up to Rp205 million.

The syndicate members were equipped with dozens of specially printed fake ATM cards designed to deceive victims at ATM booths.

“They operated across several banks and had printed many fake ATM cards as ‘capital’. For example, if they were operating at a Bank A ATM gallery, they had already prepared fake backup cards that resembled Bank A cards,” Nasriadi added.