Namibia - The myth of the reversed PIN number has resurfaced again, this time under the 'banner' of FNB Namibia.  The bank has been inundated with calls from clients who have received e-mail advising them to not resist thieves at ATMs, but to punch in a reversed PIN number, Dixon Norval, head of strategic marketing at FNB Namibia, said yesterday.

"What you should do is to punch your PIN in the reverse, i.e. if your PIN is 1254, you punch in 4521.

"The moment you punch in the reverse, the money will come out, but will be stuck in the machine half way out and it will alert police without the notice of the thief (sic)," reads the bogus e-mail.

"This is just another way of trying to extract the PIN number from unsuspecting ATM users, especially if the fraudster has not managed to view it first time round," Norval said.

He advised clients to phone or e-mail their bank when in doubt.

"Rather safe than sorry," he said.

"It remains true - if it looks too good to be true it probably is," Norval said.

The Namibian/23/06/2011