ATM scam at DEFCON clearly the work of ironic criminals
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Aug 3rd 2009 10:43AM
posted Aug 3rd 2009 10:43AM
The hooligans in this case have a dry sense of humor or are extremely unlucky: Either way, we can't help but get a chuckle out of the fact that someone placed their smart card skimmin' faux ATM at the Riviera Hotel Casino in Las Vegas -- during DEFCON, the world's largest hacker convention. No one can say exactly how long the kiosk was there -- at least the kids were smart enough to place it right outside the security office, one of the few places in the conference center not under surveillance. It was picking up on this last fact that aroused the suspicion of Brian Markus, CEO of Aries Security. When shining a light through the glass panel that should house a camera, he instead found the PC that was set up to skim people's data. He then notified security, who removed the device and once again made the world safe for hackers and their bank accounts.
Oh those hackers... what will they think of next... :-)
Hopefully they'll think next to put a camera where it's supposed to be.
Hackers hacking hackers. That's a first.
Actually, no.
hahahah, irony strikes again!
How does an ATM suddenly appear OUTSIDE THE SECURITY OFFICE, and nobody notices?
The security guards are too busy watching people cheatingor down shirts, you take your pick...
Remember we are talking about Vegas here. Nobody is gonna give a shit about an ATM they welcome the presence of ATMs in Vegas!
The only thing worse then leaving a "FIRST" comment?
Leaving a "FIRST" comment and not being FIRST!
Double fail.
i thought hackers only targeted people who they want to "GET OFF MY INTERNETZ"
uhm no, thats anonymous, they aren't hackers, but some of them might be. don't try to think about it too hard mmkay
This is brilliant. Guys who put this thing in are BAMF's.
Uhh, or are they are criminal scum of the lowest caliber. They're just like the pieces of crap that put false fronts on real ATMs to steal info from people as well.
People who aren't so smart will easily fall for this type of thing. That's not right. I hope whoever does this dies in a car fire.
Either it was some really dumb criminals who were unaware that security experts from all over the planet were going to converge just there.
Or it was some fellow hackers who were trying to pwn their colleagues.
I think #1 is more likely. But what I don't understand is how somebody can put a whole ATM next to the security office without anybody asking any questions. Some security that is.
They've got no idea how long its been there though, could've been in use for months and only just got spotted.
The better question is why didn't anybody report the malfunctioning ATM, certainly it wasn't giving out money or anything else. Nobody thought it was suspect that you put in your card and pin and then the ATM tells you basically to piss off, its not giving you any money? I didn't see a read link to the original source, but I would suspect that if anybody actually tried to use it they would have noticed it was not legit, that is unless of course they were completely hammered or high. I mean it is Vegas, its not surprising to wake up with a tiger in your bathroom and a baby crying in your closet.
A lot of ATM's report their own malfunctions these days. Where I work, we don't call a down ATM in, nor do we post a sign on it. The bank takes care of all that. The only reason to call would be if you tried to use, received no money, but your account was still debited or charged a transaction fee.
Yeah. You just put a normal screen up. Once the card gets inserted, you let them type in their pin. After that you then put up a message that the ATM was unable to contact the bank in question or some other error message and spits out the card. The average person thinks nothing of it and walks off.
Do you give a f*** that you're not actually first?
I wonder how many fell for it.
@dabrown27: You have shamed the names of dabrown1 through dabrown26.
The ATM used to be the only game you could win in Vegas, so much for that.
It's like RAAAAaaAAAAaaAAAiiin..... on your wedding day
anyone/ hacker using an ATM anywhere close to the riv, is just asking for it.
It was probably the guy that found it.
Nice way to boost your cred as a security CEO type smart-guy...
..just happen to spot a scam slipping by everyone else right in front of their nose.
Kind of a slap in the face to hotel security that they didn't catch it really...
Seriously, how did they manage to cart this thing in and find the exact spot where it would not be seen by cameras? I think this was an inside job! =p
It would be funny if a bunch of stolen & dupilcated CCs were used on it.
Wow. That's pretty ingenious stuff there. A completely fake ATM machine, not just a card skimmer taped onto a real ATM.
Look at how much attention he just got /|\
Anyone else first thought as "ass to mouth scam" ? Just me? :/
that takes some balls. The last people whose accounts I would want to hack would be the people at Defcon. I am sure they and their friends could make your life very very miserable.
Thought of a new trick, you report a real ATM as being fake to security, then send in your guys in fake uniforms to 'dismantle ' it while in reality busting it open and emptying it of money, ocean18.