Netizen Exposes ATM Issuing Counterfeit Bills: "Lack of Evidence" Makes Compensation Difficult
Recently, safety issues regarding banking services have drawn widespread public attention. Following the debate over whether credit cards should have passwords, a netizen has exposed that while withdrawing 1000 yuan in cash from an ATM, they discovered six counterfeit bills among the cash. Although the bank subsequently firmly denied this claim, multiple insiders revealed to our reporter that banks now cannot guarantee that the bills dispensed by ATMs are "100% genuine," meaning there is a possibility of counterfeit bills being issued.
The incident involving counterfeit bills from an ATM raises questions. A netizen recently exposed on Weibo that a colleague withdrew 1000 yuan in cash from an ATM at a bank near Beijing's Jing'an Center on the evening of the 22nd and found six rough-looking consecutive counterfeit bills. The complainant went to the bank the next day but was asked by the bank to provide evidence. However, the whistleblower claimed that since the withdrawal was done hastily, the complainant only discovered the counterfeit bills after returning home. "We can't produce any evidence to clarify the situation," the whistleblower stated, but insisted, "I swear under my verified identity that what I said is true." On Sina Weibo, the whistleblower's verified identity is listed as the "Market Operations Manager of Renren Network."
Yesterday, the involved bank responded to our reporter, stating that they "highly valued the matter and quickly conducted an investigation." They also disclosed that "the cash loaded into self-service equipment has all been counted at least three times under surveillance by two people using bill counting devices certified by the People’s Bank of China for identifying genuine and counterfeit bills. Therefore, counterfeit bills will not appear in the equipment. Furthermore, after the bills are placed in the cash box, the cash box is immediately sealed, and the machine manager carries the cash box to the cleaning site without being able to touch the cash inside."
Strangely enough, the whistleblower has already deleted the related Weibo post. When the reporter attempted to contact them to understand the progress of the matter, they refused to disclose further information, citing "it's inconvenient to say more."
Bank officials strive to prove the possibility is "negligible." Yesterday, the reporter communicated with several banking professionals to understand if it is indeed possible for ATMs to issue counterfeit bills. "I can only say that this is certainly a very low-probability event. In the face of such large daily transaction volumes for ATMs, the probability of this happening can almost be ignored. No one can say with absolute certainty that it never happens," a relevant official from a state-owned major bank told our reporter.
Insiders from within the bank explained that from the perspective of process design, it is unlikely for counterfeit bills to end up in ATMs. However, when it comes to "zero risk," things become uncertain. "Banks cannot guarantee that every bank employee does not have such intentions. All we can say is that the bank system itself has no problem."
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