Withdrawal from the ATM is almost always accompanied by the issuance of a relevant receipt. Few use it and most choose to throw it away in the garbage basket of the bank's own machine.
This act may not arouse our suspicions and may seem completely innocent. After all, modern ATM receipts do not print our PIN, and card details are usually displayed covered.
However, there is a very simple reason not to leave such documents behind: there is no reason to give a stranger a single piece of information about our banking transactions.
What can be written on the receipt
Depending on the bank and ATM, a receipt may include information such as the date and time of the transaction, the amount of the withdrawal, the specific ATM or location where the transaction was made, and part of the card or account details.
If we have requested a balance update, relevant financial information may also be displayed. None of this information, on its own, is the "key" to our bank account.
One cannot take a receipt from the bin, see a few digits of the card and automatically gain access to our e-banking.
The problem lies elsewhere.
The small pieces that complete the puzzle
Social engineering scams – so-called social engineering – often rely on collecting information from different sources.
A name from somewhere. A phone number from elsewhere. Some bank details from a third-party source.
The more a scammer knows about the potential victim, the easier it is to construct a convincing story.
Imagine, for example, the difference between "we call you from your bank" and someone who already knows which bank we are using and can refer to actual details of a recent transaction.
This does not mean that the ATM's proof is enough to carry out such a scam. It means that it is another piece of information that there is no reason to be available in plain sight.
The bin next to the ATM is the worst spot
There is something else paradoxical. When we throw the receipt right next to the ATM, we are essentially already revealing the context in which it was created: whoever gets it knows which machine it came from and approximately when the transaction took place.
Therefore, if we need the receipt, we keep it until we are sure that the transaction has been recorded correctly and then destroy it.
Even better, where possible, we do not ask for a paper receipt at all and we check the transaction from the official mobile or internet banking of our bank.
If we have already thrown it away, should we be worried?
Nope. Just because we left a receipt in a bin doesn't mean that our account is suddenly in jeopardy.
There is no reason to cancel the card or change passwords just for that.
It's more a matter of good digital and financial "hygiene": we don't leave bank documents, even seemingly insignificant, in places where anyone can get them.
And of course, what a real bank employee will never ask of us remains the most important: PINs, e-banking passwords and one-time passwords for approving transactions are not disclosed to anyone.
Keep the receipt or destroy it
The practical rule is easy.
If we don't need it, we choose "no proof". If we pick it up, we don't leave it on the ATM and we don't throw it in the next bin. We take it with us and, when we no longer need it, tear it up or – even better – pass it through a document shredder.
It's not because a small piece of paper can "empty" our account on its own.
It is because in the age of phishing and social engineering a very simple rule applies: the less information we leave behind, the less someone can use against us.
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