Killer ATMs Will Destroy Us All!
By Wyatt Earp | July 17, 2009
Let’s here it for the ATM technicians in South Africa. They take two great things – an ATM and pepper spray – and they place them together for mass mayhem. This, my friends, is exactly what I as born to do: make life miserable for the thugs and criminals of the world.
I wish I could have gotten into this business on the ground floor. I’d be a millionaire by now.
Oh well, I’ll just have to wait until someone picks up my design for the “switchblade airbags.”
Cash machines offer an ever-growing menu of services beyond merely dispensing money. For tampering criminals, this now includes a squirt of pepper spray in the face .
The extreme measure is the latest in South Africa’s escalating war against armed robbers who target banks and cash delivery vans. The number of cash machines blown up with explosives has risen from 54 in 2006 to 387 in 2007 and nearly 500 last year.
The technology uses cameras to detect people tampering with the card slots. Another machine then ejects pepper spray to stun the culprit while police response teams race to the scene.
Frakkin’. Awesome!
But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics. (H/T- Guardian UK)
Okay, that’s not so frakkin’ awesome. Don’t feel bad for the ATM techs, though, they have diplomatic immunity. Heh.
Topics: WTF? | 5 Comments »
July 17th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I’ve also heard rumors that a South African company also created the ultimate in auto-theft deterrent: flamethrowers under chassis hooked up to the car alarm. Slim-jim the door and VWOOOOOOSH!!!! Car Thief done extra crispy!
July 17th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
just found video of said system!
July 17th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
better one:
I’ll shut up now.
July 17th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Once, someone made a fake ATM card with my bank account number on it. They drove through California taking out $500 at a time until there was practically nothing left. I thought about designing an ATM that Tasered a user who attempted to use an ATM card that had been reported stolen, all the while filming it to be automatically uploaded to YouTube.
Of course, there might be a problem with people falsely reporting their ex’s ATM card stolen for the comedic value.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Raptor – Ooh, I want one, I want one!
Code Monkey – Yeah, but for comedy’s sake, it would be well worth it.