Consumerist
fraud
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crime
Video: Guy Installing Skimmer On ATM
LiveLeak has posted surveillance video footage from earlier this month of a guy in Brazil installing a skimming device onto a bank ATM. The second half of the tape shows him being arrested and officials revealing the device, which just reminds us that the next time we use an ATM, we're first going to take off a shoe and hit everything on it like it's covered in giant ants. See the video below. More » -
skimmers
ID Theft Ring Placed Skimmers In Taco Bell, Stole Cards From Gym Lockers
Credit card skimmers aren't just on ATMs and in grocery stores, apparently they're at Taco Bell. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that a ID theft ring was busted for skimming credit card numbers at a Taco Bell as well as stealing cards from people's gym lockers. More » -
credit cards
Skimmers Rig Door Instead Of ATM
Last week, a customer in Long Beach, New York, discovered a skimmer attached to the outside of a local ATM branch instead of on specific machines. We've talked a lot about being wary of any suspicious add-ons at the ATM, but in this case the criminals were collecting card info as people swiped to enter the building—although they still had pinhole cameras set up to record PINs next to each keypad. More »
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atm skimmers
ATM Skimmer Ring Hits Chicago Suburbs
Reader Kellie reports being the victim of an ATM skimming scam in the Chicago area. Mostly, she was amazed that the thefts weren't reported in the local media, and she asked bank employees why. Here's what they told her. More » -
crime
Hackers Discover Data-Stealing ATM At Convention
Nobody knows yet whether it was planted by an attendee, or if the ATM had been there for some period of time before the event, but hackers at last week's DefCon conference in Las Vegas discovered a rogue unit that was designed to capture customers' credit card data with each use. More » -
skimmers
Two Men Charged With Placing Skimmer On Maryland ATM
Two men "of no fixed address" were charged in Maryland earlier this month with tampering with an ATM and skimming funds. The men, currently in custody in Oklahoma for similar crimes, allegedly added a skimmer and camera to an ATM at a Maryland PNC bank in April, but police weren't notified of the tampering until May 20th. More » -
malware
Meet The Virtual ATM Skimmers
Just when you thought that you and your ATM card data were safe from criminal eyes, Scientific American brings a different sort of threat. This time, the skimmers are inside the machine. Malware within the ATM itself harvests enough data to do some very bad things. More » -
crime
New York ATM Skimmer Crooks Stole $1.8 Million
Four Romanian nationals in Florida have been charged in a series of ATM skimmer frauds that targeted banks in New York City, Cicero (near Syracuse), NY, and Rochester, NY. They are charged with, among other things, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit credit card fraud. According to the Syracuse office of the Secret Service, they stole $1.8 million overall. More » -
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how to
ID An ATM Skimmer
Here's a 24-page PDF of a powerpoint on ATM skimmers that's making the rounds in Australia. If you've been reading every ATM skimming post, most of this is review, but it contains several more examples of what skimmers can look like and what to watch out for. Though it's from an Australian bank, most of the information is general enough to apply to any ATM. A handy document to pass around to friends and family to warn them about ATM skimming dangers.
ATM Card Skimming and PIN capturing Awareness Guide [Commonwealth Bank] (PDF) (Thanks to Laura!)
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skimmers
Here's What A Card Skimmer Looks Like On An ATM
A lot of you have been asking to see what a skimmer looks like before it's yanked off an ATM. Are they easy to spot or virtually unnoticeable? Our reader Timeus works for a bank and deals with this sort of thing every day, and he sent in the following photos. Enjoy. More » -
skimmers
Reader Finds Another Card Skimmer On ATM
Kelly sent us these pics of a card skimmer he found yesterday on a Bank of America ATM in Atlanta. He writes, "I asked the police what to do; they said give it to the bank. I asked the bank what to do, they said give it to the police. I assume that no one has established standard procedures to handle this kind of thing yet." Well if nothing else, send us a photo! Then we can publicize it for other readers, which is how Kelly found it in the first place: "I would have not even recognized it or known to look for it had I not read the article on your website a week earlier about what to look for." Full size pics below.
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atms
3 ATM Skimmers Found In One Week At Chase/WaMus - What?!
Three different ATM skimmers were found this week and reported on blogs, raising the question of what the heck is going on considering these are supposed to be a rarity. First, our reader Dan found a skimmer on a WaMu/Chase ATM in LA. Gizmodo picked up the story and subsequently their reader Sean Seibel found a skimmer on a Chase ATM in Manhattan's East Village. Then this kid Nick McGlynn found a setup similar to the one Sean did, also on a Chase ATM. Now, when our reader Dan took the credit-card snagging device skimmer to the police he said they, "got a big kick out of the skimmer, saying they'd never seen one in person." Hmm... Let's look at a bunch of sexy ATM skimming photos and figure out what's up with all these skimmers cropping up...
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atm skimmers
Rogue's Gallery Of ATM Skimmers
Since you guys liked yesterday's post where a reader found an ATM skimming device so much, Network World has got a bit of "Rogue's Gallery" of the credit card-number stealing machines so you'll better know what to look for out in the wild. For instance, this photo shows how thieves will mount a camera on the ATM so they can record you typing in your PIN. It's placed over the statement dispenser using plastic that matches perfectly with the "host" ATM. Sneaky.
Credit Card Skimming: How thieves can steal your card info without you knowing it [Network World] (Thanks to Rob!)
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skimmers
Reader Finds Card Skimmer On Bank ATM
Dan says over the weekend he discovered a card skimmer attached to the ATM at his local WaMu branch. He pulled it off and took photos of it. More » -
identity theft
Credit Card Skimmers Attack Arco Gas Stations In California
UPDATE: $300,000 Credit Card Skim Was "Model Employee" Scam
Criminals have been attaching credit card skimmers to gas pumps at Arco stations in California, stealing over $100,000 so far from about 80 people.
More »The victims purchased gas at Arco stations, which only accepts cash or debit cards. Thieves attached a card-reading device to the payment machine's keypad that allows them to steal bank card numbers and personal identification codes.
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good business practice
Redbox Shows Businesses How To Properly Handle A Data Breach
Redbox rents DVD movies via vending machine in drugstores and supermarkets throughout the country, and on Friday they announced that they'd found credit card skimmers attached to three of their kiosks. What's surprising is that they 'fessed up so quickly, and in a highly public manner—they've got the text "SECURITY ALERT" at the top and bottom of their website, and the email they sent to their members is detailed, forthright, and helpful, and reposted in its entirety—along with photos of sample card skimmers—on their site. Attempts at identity theft no longer surprise us, but a competent handling of the issue by a company is pretty amazing. More » -
id theft
Card Skimmer Harvests $10,000 From 45 Victims At California Gas Station
Police suspect that a card skimmer installed at a gas station in El Monte, CA is responsible for $10,000 in credit card fraud, says KNBC:"It looks like the victims were gassing up here and using the outside pump terminals, and their credit card information was compromised," El Monte police Detective Brian Glick said.
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