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ATM thief caught after getting away with thousands

The police yesterday arrested an ATM thief who allegedly stole money from victims in Taichung, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung counties since last month.

Yu Chih-ming (游志明), the 35-year-old suspect, was arrested by officers from the Criminal Investigation Bureau's (CIB) Seventh Division at his Yuanlin residence on Wednesday night. The police also discovered the "tools" he allegedly used to steal money from ATMs.

The bureau held a press conference yesterday morning to announce Yu's arrest and displayed the tools that he has been using. However, the police did not discover any money.

According to the police, Yu would jam the money outlet of an ATM with a two-sided sticker and then wait nearby.

Victims would believe that the ATM was broken and leave when they completed punching in their passwords and the amount of money they would like to withdraw, without getting any money. After the victims left, Yu would break the dispenser and take the money.

The police investigation showed that Yu began stealing money from the ATMs on Jan. 6 this year. He has stolen approximately NT$300,000 during the past few months. In total, Yu has stolen from more than 100 victims and damaged 41 ATMs of different banks nationwide.

"As a result, next time when your ATM is not working, stay there until bank employees come to help. Do not just walk away and leave your money there," said Deng Hsueh-hsin (鄧學鑫), a bureau spokesman.
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