ATM reprogrammed to disperse extra cash

Although ATM trickery has been going on for some time now, it typically deals with some sly guy jacking your data when you least expect it and withdrawing massive (or not) quantities of cash from your checking account. 'Twas not the case at all, however, in a recent reprogramming effort at a Virginia ATM, where a clever individual somehow fooled the computer into thinking it was dispersing five-dollar bills while it actually shot out twenties. Essentially, the suspect's balance was only debited for the amount he requested, yet he gleefully received four times that amount from the helpless machine. It was stated that the ever-joyous trickster couldn't resist returning only minutes after his first bonus score to give it another go, but he won't be going back anytime soon: now he's got the boys in blue tracking him down. One of the more ingenious acts of programming we've seen lately (it's a shame Intel's not hiring), it still was a loophole not to be exploited, so if you see a fellow in Virginia Beach throwing down on 4:1 odds, stay sharp.

[David @ Sep 13th 2006 5:57PM]

There wasn't necessarily any programming involved. All the article says is that he "defeated the security pass code". Maybe he just peeked over the repairman's shoulder and figured out how to get into the ATM's configuration screen.

[Jeff @ Sep 13th 2006 5:58PM]

So, basically the guy robbed a bank. Smart.

[BeRoes3d @ Sep 13th 2006 6:07PM]

and that's why BETTER / UPDATED ATMs only dispense 20s =) (actually, don't most ATMs have cameras on the user from like 3 different angles? idk, just a guess)

not to mention the cost reduced in designing the dispenser unit... if you'd ever seen one, they weigh 50+ pounds for the single bill dispenser and they're pretty damn hard/costly to fix when broken.

[money hungry @ Sep 13th 2006 6:20PM]

damn it, tell me his name! I live in Va Beach

[pipdo @ Sep 13th 2006 6:33PM]

"damn it, tell me his name! I live in Va Beach"

ahhhhh...me too! man, I gotta find this guy lol

[Christian @ Sep 13th 2006 6:38PM]

Hehe, I manage to receive more money than was actually withdrawn from my bank account on one of my German bank's ATMs a few weeks ago. I actually got away with 100 Euros when I wanted 50. One bank note was actually folded behind the other, so the ATM didn't notice.

No need to tell you, I didn't tell my bank. (Isn't there even a card in Monopoly that says something like "bank error in your favour"?)

[david @ Sep 13th 2006 6:40PM]

I think that a more appropriate word would be either "dispense" or "disburse," rather than "disperse."

[Grantt @ Sep 13th 2006 6:53PM]

This seems a lot better than getting free fake money:
http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2006/07/atm-dispensing-fake-boob-bucks-money.html

[Jason @ Sep 13th 2006 7:34PM]

Nice picture of a ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΠΕΙΡΑΙΩΣ (Piraeus Bank) ATM. I recognized the logo of the Greek bank immediately.

Jason

[Jonathan @ Sep 13th 2006 7:43PM]

Awesome, reppin my hometown.

[3waygeek @ Sep 13th 2006 8:40PM]

Gotta be a Diebold ATM; their voting machines are just as secure...

[Ken @ Sep 13th 2006 8:57PM]

What's hilarious is that it was NINE DAYS before someone told the clerks what the machine was doing. hahahahaaha

[Shadyman @ Sep 13th 2006 9:06PM]

@Jeff:

Yes, but he also gave them a login time for the admin code, and therefore his bank number when he tried it out.

[beachbum @ Sep 14th 2006 3:31AM]

wow, alot of hometown vabeachers on this site. yaay

[Matt @ Sep 14th 2006 6:23AM]

DISBURSE.

[Rick @ Sep 14th 2006 9:45AM]

Um, is this really programming or did the person filling the machine mistakenly switch the two bins of bills. ATMs usually have two types of bills to give out (let's say $5 and $20). If the clerk filling the machine is a bonehead and puts the wrong bills in the wrong place, you get the same result.

I know it happened to me. Then the bank figured it out and deducted the difference straight from my account.

[Jim Day @ Sep 14th 2006 11:14AM]

Yet another Va Beach native here. Great to see our hometown getting some press :)

[Sidepocket @ Sep 14th 2006 12:54PM]

"Nice picture of a ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ ΠΕΙΡΑΙΩΣ (Piraeus Bank) ATM."

Or it could be their New York subsidiary, Marathon Bank.
Same logo, different community. (Anyone for a Mousaka in Astoria? Some guy from Virginia's inviting ;-)

[jason @ Oct 12th 2006 2:49PM]

its a tranax 1500 and a keystroke combo lets you change dispensation amounts between 1, 5, 10 and 20, and if its a dual cassette machine (like in strip bars) you can tell it to dispense 40 bills, and 40 coupons (from 2nd cassette)instead of bills, so you change it from shooting out 20's to 1's, withdraw 40 from your pre paid atm debit card, and you got 800 and 40 "coupons" and you have another 800... i found the manual and did it to my buddies atm in his bar, it still had the default password of 555555