From Lenta.ru:
Traffic Police have learned to take fines by bank card
A video has appeared online in which a man who appears to be a member of the traffic police takes a bribe from an offending driver using a mobile bank card reader connected to a smartphone.
At the beginning of the clip, the driver says that he can’t pay, as he has no cash, however under the threat of the car being impounded for the parking fine, he agreed to transfer money to the policeman.
After swiping the card through the gadget, the traffic policeman asks the driver for his pin code, and explains “it’s a new app – for the militsia“. After that, he confirmed the transaction by saying “Ok, the money’s gone through”, and returns certain documents to the driver.
The total of the bribe is not clear from the clip, nor is the place where this took place specified. The video was posted by the user ‘Zheka Tapin’ on the 21st September. According to the ‘Noviy Region’, Tapin is a resident of Ekaterinbyrg.
It is unknown whether the video is genuine. It is possible that the video was shot as a form of viral advertising for one of the mobile POS terminal producers. These services can be bought in Russia and abroad, for example through the Ukrainian PrivatBank and the Russian service RBK Card. They can be attached to any smartphone using Android or iOS.
Comments from Lenta.ru: Форум:
Батон:
How much does this thing cost?
Гражданин: (responding to above)
[…] ‘How much does this thing cost?’
Cop detected.
silumin:
An intelligent cop? Never heard of one!
Голодранец: (responding to above)
And why not? Even taxi drivers in Moscow have used torture to get hold of pin-codes. Why can’t cops do it if they can use champagne bottles in the Dalniy affair?
[Note: Police officers from the Dalniy station in Kazan were arrested for using a champagne bottle to rape a male prisoner]
David Bowman:
Cops have started to take fines by bank card – the title of a scientific article on the physiology of nervous system activity in advanced animals.
Foil:
I think cops can already drink driver’s blood. But I’m afraid to find out.
David Bowman: (responding to above)
It depends on the population of the cops. In different groups, there are different skills. Of course, there are some general features of all cops, but there are geographic differences.
Блондинка с Феррари:
I’m also surprised – why isn’t this article in the “Progress” section? […] However, on the other hand, I understand that the heading “Progress” for the most part is beyond traffic cops.
Дагон:
‘It is possible that the video was shot as a form of viral advertising for one of the mobile POS terminal producers.’
Funny suggestion. It’s highly doubtful that manufacturers would benefit from this sort of viral advertising.
писипук:
Why? One of the points of advertising is so that as many people as possible know about the product.
Andrey:
If this were to happen, what would stop you from going to the police, to their internal affairs department. Working out which account the money from the card was transferred to would take five minutes. Block the account, find the account holders. Too incriminating, on the whole.
berloga:
Of course it’s a fake. However, I know a real case where the cops used a car with flashing lights to escort someone to the nearest cash machine :)
What do you think? Viral advertising? Or a genuine advancement in policing technology?
