Man loses C&P Phantom Withdrawal case

[Nicholas Bohm]

James Firth wrote:
>> Meanwhile, Para 3 of the judgement includes dates and times (for most
>> of
>> which the claimant produced an alibi of sorts).
> 
> Given the current trend for often tenuously warranted and widespread use of
> CCTV across all sections of our lives, and given also the relatively low
> costs of image capture equipment (and storage) coupled with the massive
> increase in plastic fraud over the last 20 years I'm amazed that every ATM
> is not today fitted with a camera to take some sort of image of every user.
> 
> I know the cost of upgrade of existing equipment is often used as an excuse
> but surely a self-contained proximity sensor and digital capture/storage
> combo can be mounted relatively inexpensively in all locations.
> 
> And I'll add a possible answer to my own question.
> 
> Is it because images of criminals are actually of limited use in preventing
> crime? The clearest use of such images would be to clear legitimate
> cardholders of fraud and thereby could actually increase the amount of money
> banks have to pay out in compensation.
> 
> So I float the idea that one of the ways the banks would be forced to invest
> in such technology would be for the law to side with the claimant in all
> cases where ATM images were not present.

Bear in mind that even if the customer has a perfect alibi and the CCTV
plainly shows some other person making the withdrawal, the bank will say
the customer could have lent someone else the card and given them the
PIN; and the very perfection of the alibi shows it to be a setup.

Evidence that the same card was apparently used at the same time in two
widely distant places would be another matter.  But in those cases the
banks no doubt pay up quickly and quietly, and put it down to some
unspecified error so as not to sully the absence of a history of
successful fraudulent attacks.

Nicholas
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