Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives

duress ATM codes


From: Kevin Shalla <kshalla () UIC EDU>
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2005 11:02:21 -0600

I know that the SecureID product used to (and perhaps still does)
offer the ability for the user to supply a "duress" PIN when
accessing a system, which could immediately alert security personnel
that the user is being threatened.  Does anyone know if any banks
have implemented this at ATMs?  I could imagine something like
this:  A victim is carjacked and brought to an ATM and forced to
withdraw cash.  The victim enters in the duress PIN, and the machine
reports that the victim's balance is some random amount under $20
(maybe even overdrawn), and so cannot get any money.  The police are
automatically given the location of the ATM, along with a photo of
the transaction which just occurred.  If this were a standard feature
(and victims could think well enough under stress to enter the duress
PIN instead of the real PIN), this type of crime might be eliminated.

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