ATM Security Available But Not Used

I got an email from a friend that said...

Good Information. Please Read:

I just found out that should you ever be forced to withdraw monies from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your Pin # in reverse. The machine will still give you the monies you requested, but unknown to the robber, etc, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you. The broadcast stated that this method of calling the police is very seldom used because people don't know it exists. It might mean the difference between life & death. Hopefully, none of you will have to use this, but I wanted to pass it along just in case you hadn't heard of it. Please pass it along to everyone possible.


This is good info if the technology was actually used by the bank. The Broadcast they are talking about is a San Antonio news story and you can see it here.

According to what I found, there is NO bank that uses the technology however it is available. Watch the video. It clearly states that it simply is NOT used. One website stated:

"Until [the technology is implemented], forwarding this message is ill advised. Since it is extremely unlikely to work, the "advice" in this message could actually be dangerous. Forcing a victim to withdraw money from an ATM is a high-risk, violent crime. If a victim enters a reverse pin at an ATM that does not have the safety pin system installed, he or she will receive an error message and no money will be dispensed. This delay could antagonize the criminal and increase the risk of violent retaliation."

Here is my advise: make sure and double check the truth in information like this before spreading it around. You could put yourself in more danger if you have the belief that something exists, when in fact, it more than likely does not.