Cash deposit machines are crooks' latest target in ATM scam

Cash deposit machines are the new target of scammers who have been ripping off automated teller machine users with card readers and pinhole cameras - but the crooks in the first such case uncovered here appear to have picked the wrong banks.

They installed the devices - which read card details and record users' personal identification numbers - at deposit machines at branches of Dah Sing Bank and Bank of East Asia.

But according to police, the crooks have made a miscalculation, because the two banks' deposit machines, unlike many others in the city, do not require a PIN to deposit money. If depositors at these banks want to check their account balance, they have to do so at a regular ATM.

The Monetary Authority has warned users to be alert to the new scam, which comes as bank customers continue to lose money and remain vulnerable to scams by using ATMs that have been tampered with.

The two new cases came to light when the devices were found at the Tsim Sha Tsui branch of Dah Sing Bank on December 31 and the Tsuen Wan branch of Bank of East Asia on January 1.

Police said a few people had used the deposit machines after the devices were installed, but none reported losing money.