No PIN is needed to gain access to self-service banking facilities, and always remember to count the notes retrieved from ATM machines, police warn, citing precautions against two prevalent ATM-related crimes.

On a recent evening, Wang visited a self-service banking facility, where a digital screen posted outside the locked door prompted her to "enter your PIN for confirmation" after she swiped her bank card through the slot. Swiping alone is sufficient to unlock the door, but she entered her bank card PIN anyway. Days later, 20,000 yuan (US$2,416) was missing from her account.

Police have discovered a kind of surveillance device secretly installed at the doors of several self-service banking facilities, which asks for a PIN as in Wang's case, reports Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.

But swiping a bank card is the only requirement to enter such a facility. Be very wary of requests for PINs, police said.

Meanwhile, a gang has been arrested for rigging ATMs with glue and thread to hold back one or two notes.

Police stressed that birth dates, identification card numbers and cellphone numbers should not be used as PINs

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