Editor;
Perhaps I’m just being paranoid, given all the news I’ve been seeing about international credit card and ATM theft gangs. But I was at the ATM just now, taking out some money to pay my electric bill. Two strange looking guys were just kind of loitering nearby. One was fiddling with the ATM machine right next to me, the other was behind me, sort of over my right shoulder. I made sure to cover my hands when putting in my PIN code, but as soon as I got off the machine, they moved right over to the same one I was on. I stopped and looked at them for a moment, and they stopped what they were doing and looked at me. (Maybe they were paranoid of me, too.)
I walked across the street to the 7-11 to pay my bill, and kept a watch on them. As soon as I went inside, they went back to the same ATM I had been on. I didn’t see them taking any cash away, but after a minute or two they left. I went back and took out 500 baht just to check my balance, and everything seemed ok – my balance amount was correct. This time, I used the other ATM, next to the one I used originally, causing me to believe there was nothing wrong with the ATM the guy has been fiddling with before switching to “my” ATM (i.e., if there was nothing wrong with the other machine, why did he switch to mine as soon as I left?).
So, again, hopefully it’s nothing. But I marked the date and time in case money went missing later so I can have the bank check the ATM cameras in front of the Bangkok Bank South Pattaya Branch.
Just call me,
Paranoid at the ATM
