Following a spate of con artists tricking pensioners into withdrawing money from the bank while under mobile phone instruction, a Japanese bank has started to use jamming devices to stop mobiles being used near its ATMs.
The scam involves con men tricking the elderly into withdrawing moeny, and asking them to stay on their mobiles so that the criminals can give them explicit instructions. Police had taken to posting officers near ATMs and questioning anyone on their mobile phones until someone had the idea of just jamming the signals.
Chiba bank has now installed jammers in four trial branches in Tokyo. The jamming devices create a 2-metre ‘dead spot’ around each cash machine, but allow people still in the queue to keep nattering away.
source – Let’s Japan
