(I originally posted this at The Delano Observer blog)

Another hoax is circulating in e-mail nowadays. The email says that whenever someone forces you to withdraw in an Automated Teller Machine or ATM all you have to do is to enter your PIN in reverse order. This will then let you withdraw money however the money will stuck up and it will also alert the police of the anomalous act being made. However, upon search online it was found out that this email is false and the system is not true.

Most of us will literally be led to believe that this is true since it is very practical and our concern for our friends will then led us to forward this to more people. What we do not know is this email may even include a tracking code that will allow people to snoop our emails or even worse.

So how can we determine if an email is true or false?

One rule in email: If it looks to good to be true and beyond the ordinary search for it in your search engine and add the word hoax at the end.

If it is a hoax it will easily be identified since there are people and authorities who are always on the lookout for hoaxes online.

Here are the references to the ATM Reverse PIN Code Alert Hoax:

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/reverse-pin-ATM.shtml

http://www.snopes.com/business/bank/pinalert.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATM_SafetyPIN_software