This Fraud Starts Before You Get To The ATM

When I read this, my immediate thoughts (actually let's skip the first), were that if a scammer has called a victim and convinced them to go to an ATM and transfer money to the scammer's account, it is unlikely that the victim is going to turn off their phone.

The warning may not be effective if the victim already believes they are transferring money in good faith.

The crux of the issue is the current availability of plenty of personal information for scammers to script their cons with. It is a result of flawed and ineffective identity management in financial and government services and an endless string of other failures. The cat is out of the bag.

There are new procedures and methodologies for financial transactions that could deal with it.

Perhaps putting the mobile firmly into the picture might make it easier to arrange a 'tap on the shoulder' from the police when the fraudster attempts to collect their ill-gotten gains.

On the surface we have a scammer with a bank account number we know. We also know their phone number. They have to get the money out of the system somewhere and we'll know that. It is really a matter of investigation to bring the scammers to justice and it's a matter of methodology to reduce their future opportunities.

It is sad that the Japanese, with their fine reputation for honesty and law-abiding are falling victim to their own good nature.