Last week, a Southport mum (Cath Regan) who is a regular customer used a wall-mounted cash machine outside the popular Morrisons store.
Cath was disturbed to notice a man standing right next to her watching her input the PIN number, whilst slowly pretending to place rubbish into a waste bin.
Above: Cath Regan with the waste bin that makes financial crime at Morrisons easy.
The bin was situated in the centre of the two cash machines, almost touching the wall. This made it easy for prying eyes to watch users of the machine, at close quarters.
Mrs Regan went into the store and spoke to an assistant on the Customers’ Services department. The assistant apologised and unreservedly agreed that the bin should ‘not’ be placed so near to the cash machines for obvious security reasons. The assistant walked straight out and relocated the bin away from the cash machines. Nevertheless, the waste bin was back against the wall today (27/5/16) making a potential financial crime easier against shoppers at the store.
The problem was reported again to a Morrisons staff member who stated that she would“have a word with management”. On leaving the store some 20 minutes later Mrs Regan noted that the bin had still not been moved away from the cash machines.
Cath said
“In these times of fraud and online crime it’s high time that this superstore got its act together, customers deserve better treatment.”
Store profits may be one thing yet customers deserve proper protection. Morrisons apathy will not do at all! Why is this store not taking its security responsibilities and consumer protection seriously?
Cath added.
“When cards started to be used at tills in shops to pay for shopping, the machines were secure, had sides and were situated away from the customer behind you. Now a lot of these machines are open and customers close by can easily see what PIN is being entered.”
Cath asks all shops to be aware of what machines they use and ensure the security for customers.
Shoulder Surfing
Shoulder surfing refers to using observation methods such as looking over someone’s shoulder, to get information . It is commonly used to obtain passwords, PINs, security codes and similar data for criminal purposes.
More security woes for Morrisons
Furthermore, a former Morrisons tax boss was jailed for a year over insider dealing
Paul Coyle, 50, had made £79,000 in sharemarket profits after using information he had about an impending tie-up with the online retailer Ocado.
It would seem that this store needs to urgently revisit their policies and procedures (both internally and for trusting customers) when it comes to the question of security.
Pat Regan ©
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