The banking ombudsman has warned people using eftpos and cash
machines to take care to hide their personal identification
(PIN) numbers, following an increase in complaints to the
office.
It seemed many people weren't reading the fine print of their
banking contracts -- which stated the onus was on the
customer to keep their PIN secret at all times, Ombudsman
Deborah Battell said.
The person signing up for a card should also choose a number
that was hard to crack, she said.
"Selecting a secure PIN number is a responsibility that bank
customers need to take seriously -- or they risk breaching
the terms and conditions of use," she said.
On several recent occasions, thieves had stolen an account
holder's card, then guessed the PIN by entering birthdates.
Ms Battell also advised against choosing a PIN made up of
easily-guessable sequences of numbers, like 0000 or 1234, or
choosing any other sequence of easily-guessable numbers, like
addresses or telephone numbers.
"If our independent investigation also finds that a customer
has not taken reasonable steps to secure and protect their
PIN, we are most unlikely to find any basis for
compensation," said Ms Battell. "This means that the customer
will have to wear any loss."
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