英国ATM机出错吐双倍现金 银行称不必归还

Hundreds of people cashed in after an ATM machine began paying out double - and a bank said they can keep the unexpected windfall.

Some customers walked away thousands of pounds better off after news of the cash bonanza rapidly spread.

Long queues quickly formed as residents in the affluent village of Milford-on-Sea, near Lymington, Hampshire, rushed to take money out.

After around 200 residents withdrew money over a two-hour period, police arrived at the ATM to close it off.

Police even took to Twitter to inform people the cash glitch was over.

They tweeted: 'If you get a call that the ATM at HSBC in Milford-on-Sea is dishing out too much money - we are there already - Sorry folks!

'If you have knowingly received too much money from an ATM, the banks will chase you as this may be classed as fraud.'

But HSBC said they would not be asking any customers to return the money as the mistake was theirs.

A spokesman for the bank said it was not the customers' fault.

He said: 'The machine was mis-dispensing and we won't be requesting the funds back. It is certainly not the liability of the customers.'

Meanwhile, one villager, who asked not to be named, said: 'Some people used five or six bank cards and got £300 free with each card.

'At first it was all very jovial but it got a bit aggressive at one point when people started pushing in the queue.'

James Jewell-Hazelton, 26, who was working next door in an off license at the time, said: 'It was hilarious - more and more people just kept arriving.

'I would say it was mostly middle-aged people but a few kids arrived on their bikes with what I presume were their parents' bank cards. But when the police arrived the crowd of people went off merrily down the road - I'm sure the pubs in the village did very well that night.'

(Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

双语资讯

(Agencies)

英国某地一台ATM机发生故障，在顾客取款时会吐出双倍数额的现金，有数百名顾客趁机取款，但银行表示大家可以留下这份“飞来横财”。

此消息不胫而走之后，有些人甚至赶来取走了数千英镑。

事件发生在英国汉普郡利明顿附近的富裕小镇米尔福德，前来取款的居民们迅速排起了长队。

在两小时的故障时间里约有200名顾客取走现金。随后警方赶到现场，关闭了这台ATM机。

警方还通过推特发布了关闭故障ATM机的消息。

消息说：“如果你接到电话，称汇丰银行在米尔福德镇的一台ATM机发生了故障，可以多取钱，那么对不起大家我们已经赶到那里了。”

“如果你故意从ATM机中多取钱，那么银行可能会以欺诈罪追究你的责任。”

但汇丰银行表示，他们不会追讨多支付的钱，因为错在银行。

银行的一位发言人说，这不是顾客的错。

他说：“机器的分发功能出错了，我们不会要求顾客返还现金，这当然不是顾客的责任。”

还有一位不愿透露姓名的当地人说：“有些人拿来五六张银行卡取钱，每张都可以多取走300英镑。”

“起初大家都很高兴，但当有人想加塞儿时，场面也一度失控。”

26岁的詹姆斯•朱厄尔-海兹顿说：“太滑稽了，越来越多的人赶过来。”他当时在隔壁的一家外卖酒水商店工作。

“绝大部分是中年人，也有一些孩子骑车赶来，我猜他们拿的是家长的银行卡。但当警察赶来后，人们很高兴地散开了。我敢保证镇子上的酒吧当晚生意相当好。”

Vocabulary:

windfall: 意外的收获，意外之财

bonanza: 致富之源，意想不到的幸运

jovial: 愉快的

off license: 外卖酒水商店，允许卖酒但不允许顾客在店内饮酒