A BUSINESSMAN surnamed Chen found that 120,000 yuan (US$18,000) had been cleaned out of his bank account after he withdrew 20,000 yuan from an ATM at an Agricultural Bank of China branch on Fanshen Road, Xixiang Subdistrict, Bao an District, on Sunday.
Chen said he withdrew 20,000 yuan from the ATM at 9 a.m., but at about 11 p.m., he received a text message from the bank saying a total of 100,000 yuan had been transferred out of his account. Chen called the bank immediately and was told his password had been changed.
According to bank rules, a person can transfer a maximum of 100,000 yuan from an account a day. Shortly after midnight, Chen found another 20,000 yuan had been transferred from his account.
Fanshen police said a monitoring camera could have been installed on top of the ATM at which Chen withdrew cash earlier and inserted a device near the card slot to copy Chen s bankcard information.
Police said the plastic covers shielding the keypads at two of the three ATMs had been removed and one ATM had traces of glue. Chen said the slot was loose when he inserted his card. A bank manager named Deng said the loss had been reported to superiors.
Police are investigating.
(Han Ximin)
