Ahh the ATM, the pinnacle of convenience (next to fast food and Quick-E Marts of course), it just screams "I want my money and I can get it now." Of course as with all good things it can be twisted for evil purposes... or just plain stolen by some guys with a van and some chains. Well fear not friends, the South Africans have the answer for protecting our automatic teller machines!
ATMs in South Africa are now armed with pepper spray dispensers to ward off criminals. A camera in the ATM simply sees that you are messing with the card slots in naughty ways and tells the spraying mechanism to blast you. What could possibly go wrong?
Well unfortunately for some technicians performing routine maintenance on some ATMs, they detected a threat and well... have you ever been hit by pepper spray, I doubt it's a pleasurable experience.
The workers had to be treated by paramedics after inhaling some of the spray, but should be fine. Luckily no customers were near the machines during the incident, but it goes to show there are still a few kinks in the system. I would personally avoid using any ATMs in South Africa for the timing being, unless you enjoy getting sprayed in the face, but that's your business, not mine.
ATMs now able to fight back!
