Claim: Photograph shows an ATM sign which warns users that making faces into a security camera is a federal crime.
FALSE
Example: [Collected via e-mail, September 2009]
This is so scary. If true, it may be a warning sign about freedom in America.
Origins: In the last few decades, security cameras have proliferated to the point of near ubiquity. Whereas the average person once might have encountered such devices only at businesses that were prime targets of crime (e.g., banks, casinos), now security cameras are seemingly everywhere — stores, workplaces, schools, streets, parks, hotels, and most other types of public spaces. And upon finding himself in the vicinity of such a camera, who among us hasn't, during an idle moment, succumbed to the temptation of looking directly into it and pulling a goofy face? It's a simple act of rebellion, one that reminds the powers-that-be that although they may be watching us, we're as aware of their presence as they are of ours.
But in this era of heightened security consciousness, have things really come down to the situation reflected by the above-displayed image of an ATM warning
sign
One giveaway that this image might be a leg-pull is that the statutes cited are
A bigger giveaway is that this sign is a sticker which can made from templates offered through the
This sticker design is based on the bathroom camera stickers we found at cheesebikini.com. Slap them on your ATM as you're making a transaction and they'll be sure to amuse/bewilder every customer that uses the machine until it's removed. Since this sticker isn't offensive, it will probably last a lot longer than bathroom camera stickers. These stickers print onto
ATM CAMERA STICKERS
Last updated: 6 January 2010