Toothpick ATM thefts net millions
A Kanchanaburi man is accused of making a fortune from cash dispensers using the simplest of methodsPublished: 2/05/2011 at 12:00 AM
Bangkok Post: Newspaper section: News A Kanchanaburi man who allegedly made millions of baht from robbing ATM machines with the aid of a few toothpicks has been caught, thanks to the efforts of an enterprising policeman.Wasan Siakson, 40, was arrested in Chiang Mai last week after security cameras caught him allegedly using a stolen ATM card to withdraw money from a victim's account.
Police say Mr Wasan, who owns a restaurant in Koh Lanta, Krabi, and a fish pond in Chiang Mai, had stolen from ATM machines on and off for 15 years.
They believe he started preying on ATM users in 1996. He was caught for the offence in 2000, and served three years in jail.
Upon his release, he allegedly returned to his old thieving ways.
He was aided in his endeavours by banks who kept quiet, as they worried that publicity about the thefts would affect their reputation.
Police incompetence also helped. He was allegedly able to deploy his toothpick modus operandi even after his earlier conviction for the same type of crime, with police unaware that the offender could be the same man.
Police do not know how many millions he has allegedly stolen from ATM machines over the years. But they say Mr Wasan's bank records going back three months suggest he was making at least 150,000 baht a day, allegedly from ATM thefts.
Mr Wasan was arrested at his fish pond in Chiang Mai, but is being held in Saraburi. Police are investigating him for 30 ATM thefts.
Police believe he laundered the stolen money through his Krabi restaurant and his fishpond. He is also thought to own several homes, including one in Khamphaeng Phet, which police raided as they narrowed down their search for the man.
Mr Wasan needed no sophisticated equipment to steal money from automatic teller machines, police say.
He allegedly placed toothpicks in ATM card slots to trap the cards of people who tried to withdraw money from the machines.
Fooled into believing the ATMs had malfunctioned and seized their cards, the victims left the scene.
Mr Wasan, who always made sure that he was standing in the queue right behind the victims, allegedly peeked over the victims' shoulders to obtain their PIN codes.
After they left, he would remove the toothpicks, take out the cards and use them to withdraw the victims' money, police say.
The thief's luck started to run out when a keen-eyed policeman learnt about his toothpick trick while watching the news at home one weekend.
Pol Col Uthen Nuiphin, who is deputy superintendent of Provincial Police Region 1, saw an item about theft complaints lodged by ATM users in Tak's Mae Sot district.
He began searching for the man by contacting banks in Mae Sot.
He found many were reluctant to give information as they were worried that it might affect their reputation.
Pol Col Uthen decided to look for similar thefts in the central region, which, unlike Mae Sot, is under his jurisdiction.
He found two cases in Saraburi's Wihan Daeng district where police told him Mr Wasan was a key suspect, and had sought a warrant for his arrest.
Pol Col Uthen said he believed the cases in Wihan Daeng and those in Mae Sot were linked, as toothpicks were used in all cases.
Footage from security cameras in the two districts suggested the thief was the same man.
Pol Col Uthen said it took investigators one week to find Mr Wasan's home in Kamphaeng Phet, but their suspect was able to flee two days before they arrived on April 14.
Two days later, police who were monitoring Mr Wasan's financial transactions discovered that some money was transferred to his bank account from a hypermarket in Chiang Mai's Phrao district.
Police travelled there and on April 22 found the suspect near a fishing pond, following a tip by a post office employee who spotted him.
Col Uthen said a policeman in his team overheard a phone call by a man by the pond. He said he was trying to evade arrest. They nabbed their suspect minutes later.
In addition to the toothpick trick, Pol Col Uthen said, Mr Wasan also pretended to help ATM users who were not familiar with the machines.
Some victims gave Mr Wasan their ATM card security codes to help withdraw money for them.
Mr Wasan would press some wrong buttons to create an error in the transactions.
He persuaded the victims to leave the machines to inform bank officials.
In the absence of the victims, Mr Wasan would cancel the transactions so the machines would return the cards.
He allegedly withdrew money with the codes he previously obtained from the victims.
Mr Wasan applied pressure to his victims by telling them many people were waiting in line to use the machines.
"It amazes me that some Thais cared so much about others in the queue that they decided to leave the machines," Col Uthen said.
He urged ATM card holders to stay calm if a machine malfunctions.
"Don't abandon the machine. Stand there and call the bank," he said.
Source:http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crimes/234869/toothpick-atm-thefts-net-millions
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