I left money at an ATM and it was taken!

searay · 04-10-2016 10:22PM

My wife had a similar experience at an atm in our local centra store. Luckily the shop had good cctv footage of the opportunist thief and with some good detective work we figured out where the culprit worked and reported it to the Gardai.

The shop owner also got straight onto the atm operators who got the guy's identity as he'd put his card in.

The Gardai took it seriously, arrested him and took the option to let him off with a caution provided he repaid the money, which he did.

We were lucky that the shop-owner and Guard put in the effort to catch him. My wife was distracted by the kids for a few seconds but he made the choice to steal rather than be decent and say it to her.

Hope the OP finds a helpful Guard and gets some help from the bank. I'd say if you don't get help initially from them ask somebody else until you do.

jester77 · 04-10-2016 11:26PM

Sorry to hear that OP, hope you are not left in a bad way financially because of it. Hopefully the CCTV cameras catch the guy, if he was already using an ATM there then it shouldn't be hard to catch the person, but it may take a while before you get your money back. I know it is not much help now but you really should set up a standing order to pay the rent, that is a lot of money to be carrying around at any one time.

04-10-2016 11:46PM

chillin117 wrote: »

If you dropped it in the street and someone found it and kept it, is that theft too or good fortune for the finder ?

[exception to theft] ..he or she appropriates the property in the belief that the owner cannot be discovered by taking reasonable steps

Now it's open to interpretation, but I would suppose if it's a large sum of money then the person is more likely to check if it was turned in with the guards, so handing it in to the guards would be a reasonable step, if it's a small amount of money then not

GBX · 05-10-2016 12:24PM

@BaRcOe Have you spoken to the Garda again? What have they said on the matter?
This didn't happen yesterday as the letter would have taken a day or 2 to get to you.

brian_t · 05-10-2016 01:09PM

chillin117 wrote: »

If you dropped it in the street and someone found it and kept it, is that theft too or good fortune for the finder ?.

A man was convicted of theft yesterday after he found nearly £3,000 in cash in a public park.

The Man (19) , Dublin, denied a charge of theft by finding of £2,890 at Coolmine Woods, Blanchardstown, on January 21st last.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-convicted-of-theft-after-finding-nearly-3-000-in-bush-1.289077

chillin117 · 05-10-2016 03:13PM

riffmongous wrote: »

it was turned in with the guards, so handing it in to the guards would be a reasonable step,

Catch 22, Not safe with the Garda either ! What to do....? Give it to the Garda?, I will yeah.

''MORE than €27,000 has gone missing from a garda station – the third haul of cash to have disappeared while it was being held as potential evidence in a criminal court trial''

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/garda-probe-as-27000-cash-gone-from-station-29329234.html

''A Garda spokesperson confirmed that this was a separate incident to the €9,000 that was discovered stolen from the same Garda station last month''

http://www.thejournal.ie/balbriggan-garda-station-missing-money-887146-Apr2013/

:eek:

Spanish Eyes · 05-10-2016 03:16PM

chillin117 wrote: »

Catch 22, Not safe with the Garda either ! What to do....?
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/garda-probe-as-27000-cash-gone-from-station-29329234.html

http://www.thejournal.ie/balbriggan-garda-station-missing-money-887146-Apr2013/

:eek:

Surely they have CCTV in the station pointing at the safe!

But who operates the cameras and the tapes. Hmmm.

Little CuChulainn · 05-10-2016 03:25PM

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Surely they have CCTV in the station pointing at the safe!

But who operates the cameras and the tapes. Hmmm.

No most stations don't have cctv. Most don't even have a safe. The vast majority of Garda stations in this country are unfit for purpose, having been converted from old buildings.

chillin117 · 05-10-2016 03:37PM

Little CuChulainn wrote: »

No most stations don't have cctv. Most don't even have a safe. The vast majority of Garda stations in this country are unfit for purpose, having been converted from old buildings.

Not fit for purpose ? Mod; offfensive remark deleted

Deise Vu · 05-10-2016 03:42PM

Bandana boy wrote: »

Gardai might look at the CCTV footage although probably not.
If they do , unless the recognize the person immediately that will be the end of it .
Far more serious crimes than this get no investigation , any level of inquiry would cost the state more than the amount they are returning to you.

I think you will just have to take this as a very costly lesson in talking better care of your money .

Unfortunately this is bang on the money. Earlier this year I left my car down town after a Saturday night out. I made sure to leave it in a busy well lit area which was outside a bank and about 50 metres from a permanent Garda CCTV unit. During the night someone did a Riverdance on the bonnet which cost €900 to replace (Sorry boss, can't tap out the bonnet, you're lucky they didn't do the roof too......Lucky!!!).

I reported it to the Guards who said the public CCTV was inconclusive but they would check the Bank's CCTV too. 6 months later they apparently are still waiting on the bank.

I always get a taxi going out now. Lessons in life can be very expensive sometimes.

alig123aileen · 05-10-2016 03:43PM

Hi there sorry to hear about the loss of your money. This happened to me a few years ago and the bank swore three times that the money was taken out of the atm by ther person behind me. Fasttrack to four years later and I get a letter from my bank saying they were doing an audit demanded by the financial regulator of 'left behind cash at atm 'and guess what they found my 400 euro. I was raging I had lost my job at the time I left the cash in the atm and I was really struggling. So I demanded they send me an audio of them telling me three times on the telephone a few days after the attempted withdrawal that they definitely didn't have the cash and it must have been stolen and guess what - they could not locate the calls (even though the Regulator insists they record all calls) and then they offered me an additional 250e for the inconcenience because I said I was going to the regulator. I settled with them for 700euro in the end.

You should write to your bank and say if the funds are not returned to your account within six working days you require them to send you the sign off letter required to refer your grievance to the Financial services Ombudsman and Data Protection Commissioner. People need to start standing up to the banks. Hope it works ok for you and happy to help further if you PM me. (My background is financial regulation)
You should also ask them under Data Protection to view the CCTV at the time and confirm to you that they can see another person taking your money and will produce that CCTV if requested by the Data Protection Commissionere and Regulator. Believe me you will get your money back pretty fast.

Eimee90 · 05-10-2016 04:38PM

alig123aileen wrote:

Hi there sorry to hear about the loss of your money. This happened to me a few years ago and the bank swore three times that the money was taken out of the atm by ther person behind me. Fasttrack to four years later and I get a letter from my bank saying they were doing an audit demanded by the financial regulator of 'left behind cash at atm 'and guess what they found my 400 euro. I was raging I had lost my job at the time I left the cash in the atm and I was really struggling. So I demanded they send me an audio of them telling me three times on the telephone a few days after the attempted withdrawal that they definitely didn't have the cash and it must have been stolen and guess what - they could not locate the calls (even though the Regulator insists they record all calls) and then they offered me an additional 250e for the inconcenience because I said I was going to the regulator. I settled with them for 700euro in the end.

alig123aileen wrote:

You should write to your bank and say if the funds are not returned to your account within six working days you require them to send you the sign off letter required to refer your grievance to the Financial services Ombudsman and Data Protection Commissioner. People need to start standing up to the banks. Hope it works ok for you and happy to help further if you PM me. (My background is financial regulation) You should also ask them under Data Protection to view the CCTV at the time and confirm to you that they can see another person taking your money and will produce that CCTV if requested by the Data Protection Commissionere and Regulator. Believe me you will get your money back pretty fast.

I agree with this. I wouldn't back down on this.

seamus · 05-10-2016 04:52PM

chillin117 wrote: »

Catch 22, Not safe with the Garda either ! What to do....? Give it to the Garda?, I will yeah.

You'll just keep it in your pocket on the off chance that you bump into the rightful owner in the street then? :rolleyes:

You can't really justify theft on the basis that it might go missing from the Garda station.

The reason you hand it into the Gardai is because that's the first place most people would look and nobody wants to go to the hassle of advertising lost money and holding onto it for a year.

If you don't trust the Gardai, then you should place ads and posters all around the locality attempting to trace the owner, and ensure that you keep the money safe for a year and a day.

Anything else is just thievery.

Little CuChulainn · 05-10-2016 04:59PM

chillin117 wrote: »

Not fit for purpose ?<< Mod deletion>>

Where did I say it excuses anyone from theft?

Finbarr Murphy · 05-10-2016 05:03PM

I went for a walk in the park with my 8 year old and all of a sudden he bend down gets back up and yells 'hey lady, hey lady!'. He then runs after a lady holding a 20 euro note and says 'Here you are, you dropped this'. I'm so proud of him.

KingBrian2 · 05-10-2016 05:07PM

Looks like some thief out there can't keep his hands to himself. Can't resist putting his hands into the cookie jar.

BaRcOe · 05-10-2016 11:23PM

Thank you all for your replies! Sorry for not replying, I was busy and don't use Boards much (anymore)! Some very good advice! To those that think "grow some, it was your own fault..etc".. Why don't you put yourself in my shoes? A whole weeks wages gone, just like that! Because nobody made the effort to follow me with the cash OR hand it into the Garda station which is 1 minute down the road walking! Hard earned CASH! A whole months RENT!

GBX wrote: »

If the Garda can view the footage they may be able to see out who took it - finding out who that person is and locating them is another matter. As for it being the person you saw - was he in the queue for the ATM? Or are you just assuming its him because he is the only person you recall in the vicinity. This does not automatically make him a "suspect"

There were two ATMs, Left and Right. My friend went to the one on the left, I went to the one on the right after somebody else. A man came in after my friend on the Left ATM and was using it just before I got to the Right ATM. The man, from what I can remember had left just before I left. There may have been a few youngsters floating about too. It's hard to remember.

beauf wrote: »

With a bit of luck might be local to the ATM and thus identifiable. If they can be bothered to investigate.

If they can be bothered? <<Mod; Offensive remarks about Gardaí deleted>>

me_irl wrote: »

But what intrigues me is that usually the ATM will retract the money after a period of time if it's not taken (or is that an urban myth?) So, it would have to be him if the money was missing.

So, Columbo mode...

FACTS
OP put the card in.
Entered PIN.
Entered amount.
Got a beep to remove card.
Walked away from ATM without taking cash.
Man was at the next ATM.

These are the facts, but I am unsure if the man left before me on the Left ATM. Also, yes the money gets recalled back in around 15 seconds later after being left there. I did a test later on with €20 at the same atm. I counted 18 seconds. But the sheer horrible feeling in my stomach probably made me count faster. (Longest seconds ever!)

ButtersSuki wrote: »

I'm sure the Gardai are working day and night on this and putting their best people on it......not. I doubt very much you will ever see this again, even if they go to the trouble to go through any available footage (which I doubt) and identify the culprit. Even if they do identify him/her your chances of getting the cash back are slim at best.

I'm sorry to hear this happened to you but unfortunately it's your own fault. I'd put it down to a learning experience and move on.

I appreciate a realist, because I am one, but when this happens ? <<Mod - offensive remarks re AGS deleted>>

Sleeper12 wrote: »

OP I'm sorry for your troubles. You know it was your own fault you don't need us to point it out. It can happen to anyone. Post something on boards and there'll be a queue of people looking to kick you while you are down.
Anyway your question is what happens from here. Assuming cops can identify the guy & can see without doubt the he took the money most likely they'll ask for it back. Give it back now and we'll leave it there. It might be easy to see him take it but very hard to prove that he wasn't going to hand it in eventually. So best outcome is for cops to get cash back & no court case. If there is court case you won't see the money for possibly a year.
I have fingers crossed for the return of your money

Yes, I was expecting to get kicked alright, but I just ignore those and take in the advice that is actually useful. Thank you for your words though!

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Anyway, as an aside, do many people pay their rent in cash these days.... ahem.

Even if the lead tenant pays it, surely a SEPA transfer to him/her by the other tenant(s) is the safest way of doing it. Unless the LL is....

Yeah my landlord won't let me set up a standing order... Stupid, I know! I HATE taking out that much cash!

GreenFolder2 wrote: »

Did you check with the Garda station btw?
It's quite possible someone handed it in.

Yes, I went there on Monday with the letter from AIB which showed the Audit Log. The incident happened Friday August 26th but the bank took this long to find out what happened with the money.

man98 wrote: »

I'm playing the devil's advocate here but if it was the person using the ATM machine adjacent to the one OP used, surely all it would take is a simple cross reference as to whose card was in that certain ATM at that time and boom you have name; address; phone; PPS; the whole shebang. However, we don't live in a perfect world. Take the rough with the smooth, I'd probably be writing that off as a loss. It was negligent but you have my sympathies.

Never thought of that! Very good idea, if it was somebody else who used the ATM at the time. Cheers anyway!

Miaireland wrote: »

Firstly the you have no right of recourse with the bank. You left the money there and it was taken before it could be retracted by the machine. The bank is not at fault.

Hopefully the Gardai will find out who took the money but to be honest I would not be holding out too much hope of getting my cash back in the near future. Firstly the cctv at the bank would have to be working, the suspect must be id, caught, brought to court and may or may not be ordered to pay the money back. Unless the person is already known to the Gardai it could be a bit like finding a needle in a haystack particularly if he had up a hood etc and to be honest I don't think the Gardai will have the man power to investigate this too much.

I know this is unlikely but is there any chance your friend could have taken it?

No man power? What do they actually investigate if somebody has gotten 400 stolen from them! Also there are 3-4 CCTV cameras, so there is no excuse for them NOT to investigate!

BoatMad wrote: »

another thread where the OP just "f"s off

Don't worry! I'm here!

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

If they have clear footage that he took money from the slot before putting his own card in I would think the bank is OBLIGED to report it to the Gardai.

There is too much ignoring of so called "petty theft" and other small crimes, so in fairness people think it's not worth their while reporting anything but murder and mayhem.

That sends out the wrong signals everywhere IMV

Anyway, I do hope OP gets something back from this. They are innocent of breaking the law, but will never leave an ATM again before the money is in their pocket. Lesson learned, but a hard one.

I agree, thank you. 400 Euro is A LOT, I don't see why people are just referring it as a 'brush it under the carpet' scenario..

Gael23 wrote: »

It could well have been sucked back in to the machine. You need to contact the bank straight away to check this.

It wasn't. They investigated and sent me the Audit log which shows the cash was in FACT taken and not sucked back in.

alexinkildare wrote: »

I would't call him a thief either, More like an opportunist.
You were fool enough to leave your rent money hanging from an ATM then you may take the loss and stop blaming others for your very blatent mistake...

So it's ok to just take it and not hand it in?

Senna wrote: »

You may forget about checking the machine beside record to see who used it, the bank is not going to give out personal records of a customer over something as petty as this. The cctv MIGHT be checked by the guards and if they know who the person is, they will pursue the case. Otherwise, chalk it up to experience.

Why is the Gardaí job so easy? They can just 'attempt' to help me without much effort, when somebody has broken the LAW.

jester77 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that OP, hope you are not left in a bad way financially because of it. Hopefully the CCTV cameras catch the guy, if he was already using an ATM there then it shouldn't be hard to catch the person, but it may take a while before you get your money back. I know it is not much help now but you really should set up a standing order to pay the rent, that is a lot of money to be carrying around at any one time.

I wish I could, my landlord only accepts the cash..so annoying..

GBX wrote: »

@BaRcOe Have you spoken to the Garda again? What have they said on the matter?
This didn't happen yesterday as the letter would have taken a day or 2 to get to you.

I went back today, the same Garda (in his 50s) told me he hadn't checked the CCTV yet, that he was swamped. He told me on Monday that he would walk up to BOI and look at it on Tuesday morning. He doesn't seem so bothered but he has my number and said he will ring me once he views the CCTV footage!

alig123aileen wrote: »

Hi there sorry to hear about the loss of your money. This happened to me a few years ago and the bank swore three times that the money was taken out of the atm by ther person behind me. Fasttrack to four years later and I get a letter from my bank saying they were doing an audit demanded by the financial regulator of 'left behind cash at atm 'and guess what they found my 400 euro. I was raging I had lost my job at the time I left the cash in the atm and I was really struggling. So I demanded they send me an audio of them telling me three times on the telephone a few days after the attempted withdrawal that they definitely didn't have the cash and it must have been stolen and guess what - they could not locate the calls (even though the Regulator insists they record all calls) and then they offered me an additional 250e for the inconcenience because I said I was going to the regulator. I settled with them for 700euro in the end.

You should write to your bank and say if the funds are not returned to your account within six working days you require them to send you the sign off letter required to refer your grievance to the Financial services Ombudsman and Data Protection Commissioner. People need to start standing up to the banks. Hope it works ok for you and happy to help further if you PM me. (My background is financial regulation)
You should also ask them under Data Protection to view the CCTV at the time and confirm to you that they can see another person taking your money and will produce that CCTV if requested by the Data Protection Commissionere and Regulator. Believe me you will get your money back pretty fast.

Wow, incredible... but should I still write them after seeing someone else on CCTV taking my money? So I have the right to see the CCTV footage? I am with AIB, the ATM was BOI.. Does that matter? The fact that I used the ATM gives me the right? Really appreciate your advice!

Mod
Sorry for your loss, but that does not justify jibes about Gardaí. Pls do not post material like that on this forum

ohnonotgmail · 06-10-2016 12:33PM

BaRcOe wrote: »

...

Yes, I went there on Monday with the letter from AIB which showed the Audit Log. The incident happened Friday August 26th but the bank took this long to find out what happened with the money.

Given that it is nearly six weeks since the incident are you sure that they still have the CCTV footage? Has the guard checked this yet?

schemingbohemia · 06-10-2016 01:42PM

You can do a Data Request for footage of yourself at the machine, but footage of anyone else will only be released to the Garda. You should have done this already, probably too late at this stage.

Fred Swanson · 06-10-2016 02:04PM

This post has been deleted.

BaRcOe · 06-10-2016 06:05PM

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

Given that it is nearly six weeks since the incident are you sure that they still have the CCTV footage? Has the guard checked this yet?

He said that he may have to ask the Super Intendent, if the footage has been removed from the local bank after 30 days. The footage then archives in Dublin.

schemingbohemia wrote: »

You can do a Data Request for footage of yourself at the machine, but footage of anyone else will only be released to the Garda. You should have done this already, probably too late at this stage.

Interesting..Directly through the bank?

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Yup, like I said above, the footage may now be archived in Dublin. The incident took place in Cork.

teacher30 · 25-07-2017 11:30PM

To the original poster - ignore all the nasty, unhelpful comments. I'm exasperated at how cruel and downright unpleasant a lot of people are. Take no heed. You are human. It'll happen to them one day, or something similar. Hope things worked out ok for you.

Senna · 26-07-2017 12:46AM

teacher30 wrote: »

To the original poster - ignore all the nasty, unhelpful comments. I'm exasperated at how cruel and downright unpleasant a lot of people are. Take no heed. You are human. It'll happen to them one day, or something similar. Hope things worked out ok for you.

You do know it was nearly a year ago, I'm sure the OP has gotten over the emotional trauma of the responses by now.

B.A._Baracus · 26-07-2017 02:01AM

For what it's worth....
I had a friend do the same as the OP. But only €50 in his case. He got distracted and walked away without taking the money.

These things happen. No one is perfect. Just move on tho and never make the same mistake.

teacher30 · 28-07-2017 01:08AM

Senna wrote: »

You do know it was nearly a year ago, I'm sure the OP has gotten over the emotional trauma of the responses by now.

What has happened to people in recent years? Sarcastic and downright nasty. It costs nothing to be civilised. Your sarcasm was unnecessary. God forbid you might need some help and an understanding ear someday.

28-07-2017 02:10AM

teacher30 wrote: »

What has happened to people in recent years? Sarcastic and downright nasty. It costs nothing to be civilised. Your sarcasm was unnecessary. God forbid you might need some help and an understanding ear someday.

It's all over the 'advice' forums on boards tbh, best thing to do here is just report them as not legal discussion, which is the point of the forum, and the mods take care of it

con___manx1 · 28-07-2017 02:41AM

The same thing happend to me about a month ago. I left 100 in the machine. I didn't walk far before I realised turned around and there was no one at the atm and my money was gone. The bank was closed st the time. I checked my online banking and yea some ****er robbed me.
They are lucky I didn't turn around 5 seconds earlier. Who ever it was must have just grabbed it and legged it straight away the scummy ****er 100% seen me walk away from the atm. I was feck all distance away before I realised I had no money. I think I no who it was and you would no more think they were a robber in there 16 ford focus ; )
I'm raging I didn't take the reg properly. I didn't bother calling the guards because of that.

BaRcOe · 29-07-2017 12:24PM

con___manx1 wrote: »

The same thing happend to me about a month ago. I left 100 in the machine. I didn't walk far before I realised turned around and there was no one at the atm and my money was gone. The bank was closed st the time. I checked my online banking and yea some ****er robbed me.
They are lucky I didn't turn around 5 seconds earlier. Who ever it was must have just grabbed it and legged it straight away the scummy ****er 100% seen me walk away from the atm. I was feck all distance away before I realised I had no money. I think I no who it was and you would no more think they were a robber in there 16 ford focus ; )
I'm raging I didn't take the reg properly. I didn't bother calling the guards because of that.

From what I learned. The CCTV is kept at the bank for 30 days. So if you wanted to report it, do it asap. After this the CCTV must only be gotten from Dublin and the Sergeant needs to give approval..etc (basically not worth it)

My issue was, that the banks were so slow investigating and checking the logs that by the time they got back to me, that 30 day window of CCTV (local) footage was Archived.

Everything happens for a reason, and for some reason I had to pay double rent that month (€440 x 2) :pac:

huskerdu · 31-07-2017 08:31PM

con___manx1 wrote: »

The same thing happend to me about a month ago. I left 100 in the machine. I didn't walk far before I realised turned around and there was no one at the atm and my money was gone. The bank was closed st the time. I checked my online banking and yea some ****er robbed me.
They are lucky I didn't turn around 5 seconds earlier. Who ever it was must have just grabbed it and legged it straight away the scummy ****er 100% seen me walk away from the atm. I was feck all distance away before I realised I had no money. I think I no who it was and you would no more think they were a robber in there 16 ford focus ; )
I'm raging I didn't take the reg properly. I didn't bother calling the guards because of that.

Did you follow up with the bank ?
This happened me a few years ago. I was told that the money is sucked back into the machine very quickly if not taken.
They followed up and within a few weeks, they had refunded the money.
I was told that it does take a while because they have to reconcile the machine, check the CCTV, and the time that I reported that it happened and there is a fair bit of paperwork, but I got my money back.

I know I was lucky, but it is worth following up with the bank if this happens.

jluv · 31-07-2017 10:59PM

About a year ago, went to bank machine and there was money, a few hundred euro sitting there. looked around but didn't see anyone who may have walked away. So took the money,completed my own transaction and then went into bank and handed in the money. In hindsight, i'm surprised the bank didn't have any kind of form to fill in when this happens..
Anyway, leaving the bank I see a guy racing across the carpark,sweat pouring off him. I stopped him and asked if he had left money in the machine. he could barely answer he was so out of breath:P He nodded yes and i told him it to calm down it was in the bank..
He got his money and I had the feel good feeling of maybe making or breaking someones week..

I left money at an ATM and it was taken!

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