[Abhijit Sur]

Bank ATM's Converted to Steal IDs of Bank Customers

A team of organized criminals are installing equipment on legitimate bank ATM's 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 phone on the front of the ATM.

The equipment used to capture your ATM card number and PIN are 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.
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Equipment being installed on front of existing bank card slot.

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The equipment as it appears installed over the normal ATM bank slot.

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The PIN reading camera being installed on the ATM is housed in an innocent looking leaflet enclosure.

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The camera shown installed and ready to capture PIN's by looking down on the keypad as you enter your PIN

[Mercurie]

Abhijit, the similar scam recently took place at many ATMs across the UAE, which has resulted at least two or more banks to replace all of their customers' ATM cards.  The amount was in millions of dirhams!!  Luckily, I was not a victim of this scam.

[H.Nick]

Yes, A similar variant was used in UK a while back. That was before the new Chip'n'Pin generation of cards. Funny how each new innovation bythe banks is heralded as bringing an end to fraud. Until....

Offtopic, but I always giggle at the expression 'organised criminals' --- I suppose the disorganised ones just never quite get it together!

[sadhuji]

H.Nick, on Nov 25 2006, 02:08 PM, said:

.... Offtopic, but I always giggle at the expression 'organised criminals' --- I suppose the disorganised ones just never quite get it together!

any high tech device poses a challenge to high tech minds that are perverted - they try to prove their superiority. the result is what we see on this page!!!!

well done abhijit - keep us updated on more such innovations.

[Abhijit Sur]

If you are drunk a little bit be careful in paying the bill with credit cards. In many hotels they will change the card for a fake card. This happened many a times especially in Mumbai.

[iwanttogoback]

i believe you should never let your credit card out of your sight, anywhere in the world. not only can fakes be substituted, your details can be taken and used on counterfeit cards. these kind of things happen worldwide, but thanks for the heads up.

[cyberhippie]

And watch out for those HYPNOTISTS   

[H.Nick]

London petrol stations are a great place to have your card details swiped and recorded.

Many of the resultant fraudulent transactions happen in Sri Lanka.

[malkers]

Two Sri Lankans in Bristol have just been deported for this very offence in petrol stations.  One of the poor victims was a girl on her gap year doing a round the world trip only to get going and find £2500 gone from her account.  I believe the good old Bristolians rallied round and helped her continue with her trip.

[Abhijit Sur]

Here is a good article on credit card fraud from TCS(Tata Consultancy Service)

[cyberhippie]

One of the problems is that your PIN  is held on the card itself, so any card reader not only copies all the details but has your PIN