Shit.

Via BookSLUT, "Quail Ridge Books robbed during reading":

Lard and larceny were on the menu for a brazen daytime robbery of a noted Wade Avenue bookstore during a cookbook signing.

At 3:45 p.m. Sunday, Mildred "Mama Dip" Council was lecturing on the use of lard in Southern cooking to about a hundred fans at Quail Ridge Books & Music, where celebrity authors from Jimmy Carter to David Sedaris have held readings. As Council's audience faced her with their backs to the cash register, a man in a blue jacket with his hand pulled up into his sleeve presented the cashier a thriller novel and a robbery note.

It was the second time over the weekend that a specialty store near Wade Avenue was robbed. A man with a similar description and methods held up upscale grocer The Fresh Market in Cameron Village the day before.

The note handed to Quail Ridge cashier Nathan Miller, 27, of Raleigh said: "This is a robbery ... Open the drawer, give me all your tens and twenties ... You're being watched ... Don't be a hero and don't [expletive] this up." He knocked a metallic-sounding object concealed in his sleeve on the counter to imply he had a gun, store owner Nancy Olson said.

[...]

Although it is the first time the bookstore has been robbed during operating hours, it has been burglarized twice since it moved from North Raleigh, Olson said.

Olson lamented the increase in thefts from her store. "Why didn't he go to a Barnes & Noble and rob them?" she said jokingly.

Quail Ridge my is all-time favorite bookstore ever, and it totally sucks that this has happened. I hope they catch the guy soon.

From Snopes.com, the truth about ATM card skimming:

Bank ATMs Converted to Steal IDs of Bank Customers

A team of organized criminals is installing equipment on legitimate bank ATMs in at least 2 regions to steal both the ATM card number and the PIN. The team sits nearby in a car receiving the information transmitted wirelessly over weekends and evenings from equipment they install on the front of the ATM (see photos). If you see an attachment like this, do not use the ATM and report it immediately to the bank using the 800 number or phone on the front of the ATM.

The equipment used to capture your ATM card number and PIN is cleverly disguised to look like normal ATM equipment. A "skimmer" is mounted to the front of the normal ATM card slot that reads the ATM card number and transmits it to the criminals sitting in a nearby car.

At the same time, a wireless camera is disguised to look like a leaflet holder and is mounted in a position to view ATM PIN entries.

The thieves copy the cards and use the PIN numbers to withdraw thousands from many accounts in a very short time directly from the bank ATM.

This scheme has been used in Brazil and Hong Kong, and here in the US, and there's no reason to think it can't happen to you.

Again, from Snopes:

Good advice would be to get into the habit of using the same ATM for almost all of your transactions so as to better recognize when something is different with the machine. Be wary of any changes you see on its outside. If it's affixed to a bank, walk in and ask why the changes were made.

Shout out to my mother for the link. More information, including pictures of the tech used, at the Snopes site.