A woman surnamed Liu in eastern China, who turned herself in to the police after destroying a bank teller machine, has been sentenced to cover the cost of damages, the Shanghai-based Peng Pai reported on Feb. 25.
Last November, Liu, a factory worker of rural background, was duped into wiring 2,700 yuan (about $400) into an unknown account. She realized she had been tricked, and in an effort to disrupt the transaction data, poured the Coca Cola she was holding down an insertion slot in the automated telling machine (ATM).
The scam involved multiple people who, impersonating police and representatives of a postal firm, called Liu and told her she had been implicated in a drug case. The frauds then convinced her that her bank account contained “embezzled funds” that she needed to transfer to a secure account they provided.
During the transaction, the scammers hung up, and Liu knew she had been tricked. She then proceeded to empty the coke she was holding into the machine “mainly to destroy the transaction operation data.”
However, taking the affair into her own hands only landed her in even more trouble. Liu turned herself in to Shanghai police, which helped her avoid criminal charges, but the Pudong People’s Court in Shanghai ruled that she must pay over 37,000 yuan (about $5,700) to replace the destroyed ATM.
Liu has compensated the bank.
