Beware phony ATM facades

This has been a problem in various parts of the country for a couple of years already, but the San Francisco Examiner has something about a new scam hitting the Bay Area: ATM fraud. Apparently thieves are building fake front-ends for ATMs, complete with card readers, keypads, and mini-cameras, in order to capture your ATM card and PIN (most ATMs are so janky that it's hard to tell when you've got a fake one on your hands). To make sure you enter your PIN they also put up a sticker telling you to re-enter your number in order to get your card back. Then, after you've given up, the thieves retrieve your card and go to town. It's almost as bad as the scam where these guys bought real ATMs, put them in bodegas around Manhattan, and then waited for unsuspecting people to insert their cards and enter their PINs. We're switching to the barter system, just to be safe. We've got tons of stuff lying around here that people might want.

[Wonderkid @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Here in England, London more specifically, this is already common. I was on Edgeware Road and both myself and someone else were scammed in this way. I only lost my card, but the other guy lost �250 and was freaking out as he lost his card and his money. We actually saw two suspicious looking characters running away from the area earlier but thought nothing of it as they could have just been kids larking about. Obviously not! London is a haven for criminals as Tony Blair is focusing on oil money in Iraq. There are NO police anywhere, just cameras which don't stop people at the moment of the crime.

[Ryan gardner @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Hey, crooks gotsta pay da bills 2!

[BelowSeaLevel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

#2 Da crooks should geta job. They can be using those "creative talents" in a leagal way.

This scam has been going on here in Holland for a while. They have decided to put a sticker on the ATM showing how the original ATM looks like and advises you if it does not look the same as in the sticker than dont use it. My question is what would stop from someone making a different sticker to put on top of that to match their setup?

Here is a link to see how it's done. http://www.utexas.edu/admin/utpd/atm.html

[Jan Aagaard @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

The scammers here in Denmark have upped the technology a bit futher: They put on a fake cover over the numerical pad and the card reader so that when you use the machine they register your pin code alongside with the information on the magnetic stripe on the card. They are now able to create exact copies of your credit card, and they know your pin code.

The beauty of this scam is that the ATM works as normal, and you get both your credit card and your cash. The thieves can wait a couple of months before using the copy of your credit card, making it a lot more difficult for the police to track them down.

The latest version of these fake covers used a really small card reader and a tiny web cam to read the pin code, in stead of the cover for the numerical keypad. The two were connected wirelessly. Pretty neat!

[Charles Barry @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Here In Halifax, Nova Scotia, CANADA we're having the same problem. I got a call from my bank last week saying I had to come in to get a replacement card. When I get there I find out that it's because of this exact problem. I'm just glad my bank was vigilant enough to keep me from losing any money.

[Bryan Webster @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I agree with the london comments about this being rife here, however i think blaming the Iraq war is a bit over the top mate!

[nojetlag @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Well I guess No 1 is the lousy design of current ATMs and second it's that still in 2005 we run around with these mangnetic strip cards as during the early 50's or was it 70's. How about eye scan or other technologies ? The banks sure make enough money to invest a bit in upgraded technology. Or is this only for the war on terror which is basically a war on people who don't go along with a certain government ?

[rory @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Yes, it also is quite common in ireland (derry, northern ireland)

�1000's of pounds were stolen from victims

by looking at the picture above it would be so easy to fall for!

[All Music Site @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Catch the bad guy and shoot him.

[EdZ @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

This is a pretty old scam. Originaly, a wireless reader is placed over the card port, which can read the card as it goes in (and/or out). A leaflet box is stuck to the side of an alcove with a wireless camera hidden in it, which records the pin nimber. the theivs watch the camera, and create new cards (using a reader and blanks) from the data they have gleaned from the scanner. It's more insidious, as there's no way to tell that your card's been scanned until you notice the sudden expenditures.

[CiscoKid @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

�A fool and his money are soon parted� You know who you are suckas.

[Tweaq @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

this was on a pretty good episode of CSI. the guy set up a wireless cam and car reader on the machine, so he would have to sit a few hundred feet away (the reason he got caught) and log your info, then he made duplicates of the cards.(but he only did that to cops, lol)

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

enough with blaming everything on the iraq war people

[ab @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

So... am I the only one to cover the number pad with my other hand when I enter my PIN?

[iceberg @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

I was gonna agree with nojetlags comment about the bank upping the security requirements, perhaps with biometric security features such as fingerprint or retina scans, but now I'm not so sure thats a good idea.

The reason why is that if these machines can be so easily tampered with, and the machine's owners aren't vigilant to prevent it, who is to say the crooks wont install dummy finger/retina scanners to capture themselves a copy of your bio ID? The potential for abuse will then grow stronger, even if they can't immediately put that data to practical use.

[necrosis @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

LOL! CSI had a EP doing this like number of months ago. I also read a article in texas about 2 years ago now about this.

[Emily @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Would the ATMs at banks be more secure? There would be bank personnel on the premises, who could notice if their ATMs looked different.

[Gargemel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

That facade in the pic doesn't cover where you put your card in ?!?!?!?!

The card slot's up top, so how's that gonna work?

[OddManOut @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

"How about eye scan... "

Um...ever seen 'Demolition Man' ?

JK - I doubt your eye would be viable for very long after it has been dug out.

I must admit, I never have liked the kind of machines that hold your card internally during the transaction...I know that there is a certain positive security aspect to it of course (if a stolen card is inserted...the machine just keeps it), but I've always been leary...

Sounds like it doesn't matter though. The fake facades can aparently emulate all different kinds of interfaces.

Devious though it is, I find criminal inovation to be simply fascinating. But I agree with #3, criminal talent is just talent that is being poorly channeled and could be put to more productive uses...

[creamofcow @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

#13, out of self-consciousness or the fact that I'm usually holding a donut in my other hand, I don't cover up the keypad with my other hand, but I go through a series of fake keystrokes where I pretend to hit keys. Been kinda paranoid ever since someone was caught with a video camera at an airport capturing ppl's phone card digits while pretending to be shooting their kids.

[pat @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Your retina's cloud over quite quickly after death. Its currently the most secure biometric security system.... (obviously not perfect but then again what is)
I read an article ages ago (might have even been on here) about someone faking fingerprints with gummi bears... They also tried to fake the retina scans with digital photos but that didn't work.

[proee @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

Here is an idea for you all:

An an addition to the output of the machine that captures the real bills and delivers an equivalent amount in counterfit bills. Then, there is no need to use the persons credit card because you are just collecting the cash.

When they wise up and bust you, you'll get nailed on two accounts - counterfiting and atm tampering!

Has this been done before?

[David Williams @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM]

In the UK the Banks have introduced "Chip and PIN". Basically it should eliminate this type of fraud (known as Skimming here). Even if they copy the magnetic stripe, the ATM (or till in a store) will look for the chip on the card and wont find it.

There was a TV programme with loads of different types of devices that could work at an ATM: The "Lebanese Loop" is common - it physically holds the card and wont give it to the owner, but the thief can get it out. Others included having a white plastic cylinder with a camera in it, the fraudsters made it look like part of the ATM and the customers didn't notice.