Visual Autopsy Of An ATM Card Skimmer

Bert64 writes "A chap at work was recently the victim of an ATM card skimmer which took his card details, cloned them and allowed the fraudster to take 550 pounds out of his account. Having tried to explain how the fraudsters can hide a camera and card reader around the ATM, he decided it would be easier to show one of them after a few drinks down the pub. He was a little surprised to find that the machine he chose had a card reader and camera in place. These were removed and analysed, we believe we have reclaimed about 800 pounds worth of kit. Result: Pictures."

550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy cow! That's a lotta dollars! Hope he hurt his back carting it all away. ;)

Great plan

[Papa Legba]

recover 800 pounds worth of equipment and incurr 2000 pounds of bandwidth costs bragging about it. The guy who lost the 550 pounds is going think that was nice compared to what just got done to him by slashdot.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Quasar1999]

How much is that in kilos?

Re:shouldn't ATM machines be designed better?

[mcpkaaos]

or am I just missing something?

Maybe the ATM designers just happen to be the same folks that are installing the cameras and readers. :)

Re:Teller versus ATM

[nomadic]

I seriously wouldn't have an idea as to how to get money from a teller. You like show your ATM card or something?

Idea!

[Dark Lord Seth]

Have all Slashdotters run around ATMs and check for card skimmers. If found, remove card skimmer, take home, disassemble, build into $anything, add keypad and have your own PIN access system to $anything! All the while doing the rest of the world a favour by taking away card skimmers! Woot!

Re:Easy as Ebay

[mattjb0010]

What ever happened to "Stick 'em up"?

s/up/in/

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[DeionXxX]

About 250 Kilograms [google.com]... man I love google...

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[kramer2718]

Holy cow! That's a lotta dollars! Hope he hurt his back carting it all away. ;)

Sadly, with the current exchange rate 550 GBP is almost 550 lbs. of USD.

Re:Teller versus ATM

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, at my bank you go inside, fill out a withdrawal slip (which is very much like a check, but you also have to write your account number on it).

Then, you get in line behind a large number of old people and people who can barely speak English, and for variety, some old people who can barely speak English-- all of whom have little idea of what they want/need, and all of whom will actually try to haggle with tellers over a few cents of interest.

After waiting for a very long time and getting irritated at the stupid things you overhear the people in front of you say, it's your turn. You give the withdrawal slip and a photo ID (usually a driver's license) to the teller, and they process it and give you your money.

If ATMs didn't exist so I could avoid all of the above, I would probably keep my money in my mattress. The bank needs a special express line for people who are under 50 years old, can speak English well, and have very simple transactions to make. Just like the post office needs one for people who have well-packaged, correctly-addressed outgoing mail and the cash to pay for postage in hand-- because that's another place I hate standing behind clueless retards.

~Philly

Re:Easy as Ebay

[Anonymous Coward]

A card reader on ebay: $100
Sony digital camera: $500
Memory stick: $500
Profit: PRICELESS!

Re:Convenience or security...

[hoggoth]

> the place could already be under surveillance, giving THEM the blame for the crime...

That was the brilliant part of their scam. After removing the device and cleaning out all the bank accounts, they posted the whole thing to the Internet to create a cover story in case they were watched!

this reminds me of

[minus_273]

the story of the ATM machine left infront of a convenience store. People whould come up to it insert their card, type the pin and be presented with an error saying there is no more money left in the machine. A week later the machine disappeared. All the people who had used the ATM had given the data form their ATM cards and pin numbers to a fake machine that was logging the info!

Sure...

[dark-br]

Drunk guy: Here, I took this from an ATM machine *hicup*
Police guy 1: Destroing private propriet while drunk uh?! You are under arrest!
Police guy 2: These gang ppl are getting even dumber!

Re:Great plan

[Anonymous Coward]

Your roasted raisins sound more like sour grapes.

--A Concerned Reader

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[black mariah]

It isn't. I don't think anyone's SERIOUS when they call the metric system 'fancy'.

Re:Teller versus ATM

[stevens]

I seriously wouldn't have an idea as to how to get money from a teller. You like show your ATM card or something?

I can only think of one place to press in my PIN on a teller, and I'm sure she'd slap me.

Rules for ATM Skimmers

[rjamestaylor]

Rule #1: Always remember which machines you've bugged so you don't accidentally expose your work during "investigations."

Rule #2: If you fail to follow Rule #1, act surprised and shocked at your "fortunate discovery."

Rule #3: If your work is exposed, especially in a Rule #2 setting, be sure to dismantle it so the destination can't be traced.

You idiot!

[moosesocks]

You idiot! You just stole your bank's security camera

Re:Covered keypad

[TykeClone]

That must be why they have braile numbers on the drive up atms

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[ShipIt]

"The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it." Abe Simpson [snpp.com]

Re:This only works with poorly designed ATMs

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a feeling these card skimmers only work on specific models of ATMs (most likely, the little privately owned units you see in restaurants and gas stations, as opposed to actual bank-owned ATMs).

I wouldn't bank on that.

Sorry, someone had to say it.

Re:Alternative approach

[peggus]

Brittish cops don't solve crimes they issue case numbers.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[-tji]

That's actually true.. If you take your cash in nickels.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[joedoe]

But I'm sure what we all really want to know is, how much is that in Libraries of Congress?

--joedoe

Re:Easy as Ebay

[nfras]

selling (or even just giving) a burned DVD of Star Wars should be illegal

I agree, and if that DVD is Attack of the Clones or Phantom Menace, selling any DVD of it should be illegal.

How not to Get Scammed at the ATM

[bad_fx]

Here's some great tips on how not to get scammed at the ATM [lostbrain.com]. It's also got some images of a modified ATM...

No kidding?

[el_munkie]

This makes Canada an ideal vacation place. I might spend Spring Break robbing Canadian banks. See ya soon.

Re:Mirror in case of /.

[topham]

Your wrong. They didn't deport him, they sent him back to his riding...

And for those of you who failed to get the joke, check out the Federal government in Canada and the word Scandal.

Fonzy every Machine

[sPaKr]

This just proves that you should smack every machine a few times before and after you use it. If you smack it hard enough you get a few spare parts and protoect your credit. I have taken to kicking, shacking, and hitting every vending maching I use in the name of safty. BTW the same thing applies to people, but with them I have found poking with stick to be the best method.

Re:Easy as Ebay

[M. Silver]

If you're going to go to the trouble to tell people that POS is not an acronym for piece of shit, you could at least have mentioned that it does does stand for Point of Sale (in this case)

If you've ever had to support them (particularly those that some PHB has picked out without consulting his IT people), you'll know that that's generally a fully dual-meaning acronym.

Try a bank/post office in one

[scruffyMark]

Seriously, the German national post office is also one of the largest banks in Germany. Makes sense on a certain level - every little town already has a post office, so why not just add bank services to the existing office.

But, here's the problem: not only do they offer banking and postal services at the same wickets, they also don't seem to have discovered the marvelous North American method of having one line up for multiple tellers. You don't really appreciate having the first available clerk can always help whoever has been in line longest, until you live out the alternative.

So, you go to the post office with your single envelope, correctly addressed, just needs to be weighed and have postage slapped on it... You have to carefully scan the lines, and suss out the people waiting. That fellow with the big fat envelope - is he mailing something in bubble wrap, or is it full of unsorted petty cash and small cheques that need to be deposited into three different accounts? That lady with the shopping bag - is she checking her PO box, or remortgaging her house?

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Charlton Heston]

Anything that requires me to use all 10 fingers to calculate is definitely fancy.

Re:hunh...

[Doyle]

...or if you're three-handed like this guy [ev6.net] then you can use two hands to cover the third!

not anymore

[sulli]

These days they nail you for interest the week before you take cash out. And sometimes it's as much as a full billing cycle in advance.

How do they know, tinfoil-hat man? Data mining! They know when and where you'll be taking that cash out, oh yes they do.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, just take it down to the lobby in the lift, throw it in the boot while I check under the bonnet, unless you have a lorry. We Americans just love our odd language, ol' chap. Pip pip, cheerio, and all that rubbish, God save the Prez! ;)

Explains a lot

[Chuck Chunder]

This could explain why the people in front of me in ATM queues always take so long.

I'd always assumed they were incompetant morons. Perhaps they are just security concious and are waiting 15 seconds before typing their pin in case a camera is recording.

Re:How hard can it be.........

[jorgen]

If anything around the card slot looks suspect - just get hold of it and pull!

Getting arrested for vandalizing an ATM: Priceless. :P

If you're going to complain about grammer...

[MCRocker]

If you're going to complain about 'grammer' [sic], then, at least try to spell ridiculous correctly.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Marvelicious]

You mock the imperial system, yet your sig mentions beer? Don't you understand that all true happiness revolves around pints!

Re:Teller versus ATM

[csk_1975]

• The bank needs a special express line for people who are under 50 years old, can speak English well, and have very simple transactions to make

They tried that, but all the old people who can't read English kept standing in it.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[aweraw]

You may be onto something... it is my experience that australian kegs come in 2 standard sizes: 9 gallon and 18 gallon.

I will make an allowance for Imperial measurements if they refer to a large amount of aussie amber goodness [coopers.com.au]

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Ryosen]

I guess it's just easier for you to use all *12* fingers then?

Re:Mirror in case of /.

[Hentai]

Ah, yes. This is one of those irregular verbs, isn't it? I Sponsor, you Lobby, he Bribes?

Re:Mirror in case of /.

[Breakfast Pants]

So what? 64k canadian is what like 4 dollars?

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[FuegoFuerte]

I guess it's just easier for you to use all *12* fingers then?

For those born near Hanford, yes it is. And thank you ever so much for reminding us that we're freakish mutants. Now go away and leave us to count on our 12 fingers. Steenking insensitive metric snob.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[flossie]

it's only because you are all too stupid that you can't fucking handle the cahnge[sic].

No, it's only because we're so omnipotent, we don't have to.

Mars Polar Lander [maths.org], anyone?

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Mjlner]

Holy cow! That's a lotta dollars! Hope he hurt his back carting it all away. ;)

Carting it away???!!! Didn't you read the top post? He used an Asynchronous Transfer Mode network interface, so he didn't need to lift an ounce!

Re:Questionably Legal???

[raphae]

Okay all you Slashdot-hacker-types. Now that you're all going to go out and make your own customized ATM cards as part of the new fad, don't forget to make your own ATM networks to go along with it.

And, while your're at it, why not your own currency system as well?

Just make sure gobs of the new currency doesn't unnecessarily get funneled off into the pockets of corrupt politians and global corporations as is the case with the current system.

Re:Centigrade is artificial, Fahrenheit is natural

[BlackHawk-666]

Through the magic of this new "real number" system just now being developed we are able to now handle such tricky numbers as 28.4 and 17.1234. It's cutting edge and not everyone can "get" it, but I have real hope fractional numbers will take off in the future.

Re:Fonzy every Machine

[An Ominous Cow Aired]

You poke people with a stick... what extra parts fell off? And what did you do with those parts?

Re:How not to Get Scammed at the ATM

[dave1212]

Everything minus the pic.. it's worth it to visit. Lostbrain rules.

Don't Get Scammed at the ATM

Look for these tell-tale signs to avoid losing your money, or inadvertently handing your PIN number over to the Russian mafia the next time you use an automatic teller:

1. If the ATM appears to be crudely attached to the back of a Toyota Celica, or Ford Ranger Pickup truck, BEWARE!

2. If you see an ATM that has been cleverly modified, as this one has, BEWARE!

3. If there are any Russians nearby, BEWARE!

4. If the ATM machine has three windows on the front displaying spinning fruit, BEWARE!

5. If the ATM machine says "Rubbermaid" anywhere on its exterior, it is likely not an ATM machine, but a cleverly disguised trash can. BEWARE!

6. If, at any point during your transaction the ATM opens to reveal a small naked man inside, BEWARE!

7. If the ATM machine wants you to play a game of three card monte, BEWARE!

8. If the ATM machine is sponsored by Martha Stewart, BEWARE!

9. If the ATM machine promises to "gladly pay you on Tuesday, for a hamburger today," BEWARE!

10. If there is a sign attached to it that says "Beware of ATM Machine," BEWARE!

Re:Mirror in case of /.

[qnxdude]

its not dollars in canada anymore, we now call them "northern peso's"

Re:Testimony

[God! Awful 2]

But the case will be built on the testimony of those involved - witnesses. If nobody wants to cooperate, what's Inspector Gadget to do?

Umm... go go gadget sodium pentathol?

-a

Re:I'll drink to that

[Ironica]

Similar to the system we had when I worked at Kinko's, though it was based on an OS/2 server.

It was the graveyard shift's job to wait until around 3 a.m., when there were no customers in the store, to do the daily backup. It took about 15 minutes, and the entire POS system had to be shut down. (I was working graveyard in a giant location with a second floor, so there were 9 machines we had to go around and log out.) The drawers did not open while the system was shut down (there was no way to open them, as you had to log in to use the interface) but sometimes we would leave a cash drawer open in case someone came in just desperate to make their copies quick and pay cash and leave.

One time, we started the backup right after a couple left the store at about 3:30 a.m. They returned about five minutes later, and wanted to do something else. We apologized for the situation, but explained that we would be unable to accomodate them for a couple of minutes. The guy actually threatened to beat up my co-worker for telling him this. (Meanwhile, his girlfriend was mortified by his machismo.)

My co-worker, thinking on his feet, told him he couldn't "take it outside" with him because he was on duty. When asked what time he got off work, he promptly answered 9:00 a.m., and the guy promised to return. I managed to keep a straight face through this exchange, even though I knew for a fact that Bruce clocked out promptly at 7:00 each morning.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[really?]

err ...no?
In my part of the US one uses the ten fingers and the two teeth.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[Pogue Mahone]

I can count up to 1023 on my fingers :-)

Re:Centigrade is artificial, Fahrenheit is natural

[grub]

~30 below is when it starts being a real problem.

Come directly north to Manitoba, we only put on clothes at -30. A light jacket at -40. Wool socks and mitts when the temperatures start to be announced in Kelvin.

Re:Mirror in case of /.

[Dr. Evil]

Yep, and last year's "growth" of the U.S. economy matches the fall of its dollar.

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[EtherMonkey]

Personally, I measure weight in stones and height in hands. But I have to use my left hand when measuring, as my right has swollen to gigantic proportions through use in applying all the manhood enlargement cream I've purchased through email offers. Enhancement cream notwithstanding, I still prefer to measure my "manhood" in millimeters.

Re:Centigrade is artificial, Fahrenheit is natural

[rev063]

Given that this is a discussion of Fahrenheit versus Centigrade your mention of -40 is amusing. I know it doesn't matter, but what type of degrees did you mean?

Actually, in this specific case it doesn't matter. -40 degrees is the same temperature in both the Centigrade and Fahrenheit scales!

Re:550 Pounds of money?!?!?!?

[aastanna]

Watch out when you get to 132, you might upset some passerby.

"The biggest thing seems to have been the size"

[bob_jordan]

"The biggest thing seems to have been the size"

I tend to find that as a rule, the biggest thing of most things is its size. If it gets any bigger, its size grows to accomodate it.

Bob.