Thief steals $14,000 from Autobank

Press, 19 May 1984, Page 1

Thief steals $14,000 from Autobank

CINDY BAXTER

An overdrawn account at the Ham branch of the Bank of New Zealand in Christchurch has been the target of a thief who withdrew $14,000 through the bank’s Autobank money machines.

The thief used an Autobank card to withdraw the money from three machines in Christchurch, run by the B.N.Z. and A.N.Z. banks. The Christchurch fraud squad is investigating the theft, which is thought to be the first of its kind in New Zealand. The machines are at the B.N.Z.’s central branch in Hereford Street, its Riccarton branch, and at the A.N.Z.’s Armagh Street branch. The police were anxious to hear from anyone who saw a person returning to any of those machines on more than one occasion to withdraw money on Sunday afternoon or evening, said Detective Inspector Jim Millar. It is believed that the card’s owner had an overdrawn account at the Ham branch of the B.N.Z. The police would not confirm this, but have made several visits to the branch

since the discovery of the theft on Wednesday. The management of the B.N.Z. would not comment on any aspect of the theft yesterday, saying it was under police investigation. To have withdrawn money from an Autobank machine, the thief must have known the card owner’s personal identification number, which the bank advises cardholders to memorise, then destroy. There must have been a fault in the computer system which controls the Autobank machines as there is supposed to be a limit on withdrawals of $2OO a day. The system was installed by and is run on Databank Systems, Ltd, computers. Databank Systems’ management would not comment on the matter, saying it was up to the B.N.Z.

It is believed that there is now a dispute between the bank and Databank Systems as to which should pay for the $14,000 theft.

Fine print on the Autobank brochure states that a cardowner who loses their card is liable for any withdrawals before the theft is reported.