15-year-old remanded on bail for ATM scam
A 15-year-old Romanian boy, who took part in a slick ATM scam and stole €200 from under the noses of people as they had been withdrawing money, has been remanded on bail pending sentence.
The Dublin Children’s Court today heard a step-by-step account of how the scam, which involves the use of distraction and slight of hand, worked.
Step One: A person goes to the ATM, inserts the bank card and then keys in the PIN number.
Step Two: Just then, the person is approached by people who wave a magazine in front of his face and blocks the ATM screen and keypad.
Step Three: While the person is distracted one of them, unseen, presses the button telling the machine withdraw €200. The money pops out and is taken swiftly while the account holder is distracted and oblivious to what is happening.
Step Four: Eventually the thief backs off, the person looks at the screen which reads “transaction completed” but sees no money. A later check of their bank balance shows, however, that €200 has been withdrawn.
The boy pleaded guilty yesterday (MON) to the theft of €200 from a boy at an Ulster Bank ATM at College Green, Dublin, on March 9 last. He also admitted another charge for stealing €200 from a woman at an ATM on Suffolk Street, on March 4 and attempted theft from another woman at an ATM on the same street on March 8 last.
None of the stolen money had been recovered, Judge Bryan Smyth heard. He was also told that the boy was facing sentence in June for another similarly styled theft.
Garda Niall O’Reilly, of Pearse Street station explained that the “teen and an accomplice approached the injured parties and held a magazine in front of the screen after the PIN number had been entered. They distracted them and then took the €200 from the machine unnoticed.”
One of the victims became suspicious afterwards and contacted her bank which told her that a €200 withdrawal had been made.
The boy had been arrested after he was recognised on CCTV. The court was also told that the boy was able to tell from the sounds of the ATM what stage of the transaction the bank card user was at when approached.
Judge Smyth was told that the boy, who was accompanied to court by a sister, was out of school but hoped to re-enrol in September.
Judge Smyth remanded the teenager, who lives in west Dublin, on bail until June 28 next to allow a pre-sentence probation report to be obtained and for sentencing on all charges.
The boy’s bail conditions state that he must “stay out of the Dublin 1 and Dublin 2 areas, obey a curfew from 8PM to 8AM and to stay away from any ATM.”
