The plot thread involving the fake ATM is based on an
actual case in the Tri-state area. In 1993, a group of people called
The Bucklands Boys got together and bought several ATMs, "installed" one in a Conneticut mall (it never actually functioned), and used the card numbers and pins collected from it to empty US$100,000 out their victim's bank accounts. The rather brazen crime stupidly fell apart when they failed to pay a $20,000 bill for mag stripe writing equipment.