As Halloween draws closer, here’s a reminder of what you should really be scared of: ATM skimmers, or devices that attach to cash machines to slurp up customers’ card numbers and PINs. You should also be afraid of adults in creepy baby doll masks. According to police in Minnesota, a recent crime there incorporates both of these terrifying prospects, with a mask-wearing suspect accused of placing skimmers on ATMs in two counties and stealing tens of thousands of dollars. [More]
ATM skimmers
2 Men Accused Of Using ATM Skimmer To Take $500K From US Bank Customers
By 9.2.16
If you’re hitting the road this holiday weekend, you might find yourself visiting some unfamiliar gas stations, ATMs, or kiosks that accept credit cards. The recent arrest in California of two men who are accused of draining $500,000 from US Bank customers’ accounts should remind people across the country and all over the world: be careful where you swipe your debit card, and be protective of your PIN. [More]
Let’s Watch Some Promotional Videos From Makers Of ATM Skimmers
By 6.14.16 — Updated: 2.28.17
Legitimate businesses create video ads to promote their products, so why shouldn’t companies that can provide you with the supplies to commit crimes? Here are some videos where sellers of the tools of the ATM skimmer trade show off how their products work, in case you’ve always wondered how to insert and remove a super-thin ATM skimmer. [More]
New And Improved Version Of Popular ATM Malware Spotted In The Wild
By 5.20.16
Modern ATMs are just computers attached to machines stuffed with cash, and that means that ATMs can also be infected with malware and viruses. Back in 2009, a piece of malware that could make an ATM spit out cash or give out the card numbers of people who had recently used the machine was found in the wild, the not-very-creatively-named Skimer. Now the security company Kapersky Labs has discovered a new and better (if you’re not a bank or a consumer) version of Skimer out in the wild. [More]
Here’s What You’ll Find Inside A Real ATM Skimmer Found In Indonesia
By 5.9.16
What would you do if you were on vacation abroad, and you found a skimmer attached to an ATM? Security consultant Matt South discovered a camera attachment on an ATM in Bali, Indonesia, and decided to bring it back to his hotel to take it apart. He found a plastic enclosure that contained a modified motion-activated spy camera, and four holes that turned out to be a USB port. [More]
Inspectors In Massachusetts Combing Gas Stations, Other Card Readers For Skimmers
By 3.4.16
Look out when you’re on the road: police and state standards agencies have noticed a scary trend near highways in New England. Bluetooth card skimmers are appearing on gas pumps and ATMs in New England, slurping up customers’ payment data and beaming it to thieves who may be sitting just around the corner. [More]
6 Things We Learned About Bluetooth ATM Skimmers In Mexico
By 9.17.15
If you took a summer vacation this year, you may have spent it on a beach, on a boat, or at a theme park. Security journalist Brian Krebs spent his summer vacation doing something that sounds super-fun to us: hunting down compromised ATMs in Mexico. He found quite a few, and also learned who might be behind all of his fraud. [More]
Citibank Apparently Hasn’t Heard About ATM Skimmers In Mexican Tourist Destination
By 9.15.15
Reader J. had what we’re sure was a wonderful vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico last November, and used his Citibank ATM card to withdraw cash as needed. When he returned home, he noticed multiple withdrawals on some days, and the “extra” transactions were for amounts much larger than what he remembered taking out. J. says that Citibank wouldn’t reverse the transactions, since the card never left his possession. [More]
Would You Have Spotted This Skimmer Found On An ATM In Mexico?
By 7.22.15
Banks and credit unions here in the United States are reporting ATM card fraud that originated with skimmers in the touristy town of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Imagine the opportunity from a criminal’s point of view: an area full of American tourists with nice, magnetic-strip cards! Would you have been a victim? It helps if you know how to spot a compromised cash machine. [More]
New Frontiers In ATM Skimmer Technology: Wiretapping
By 12.9.14
We have a morbid fascination with ATM skimmers here at Consumerist, as anyone with a bank account probably should. The technology has made a lot of progress, from molded overlays for card slots and PIN pads to invisible Bluetooth devices that beam payment information to the bad guys until their batteries die. Now there’s a new type of skimmer spotted on real ATMs, but impossible for customers to detect: wiretaps. [More]
Here’s Another Near-Invisible Card Skimmer Found On A European ATM
By 8.22.14
On the right of this photo is a 1-euro coin, which is more or less the size of a U.S. dollar coin. On the left is a super-thin skimmer recovered from the card-reader slot of an ATM in Europe. Powered by a watch battery, it was only found when the ATM displayed a “fatal error” message and a technician came by to figure out what was wrong. [More]
Watch Suspected Scammers Install And Harvest Data From ATM Skimmers
By 8.21.14
Skimmers are devices that very bad people attach to unattended credit card readers such as bank ATMs, public transit kiosks, post office kiosks, or gas pumps. They capture card numbers, and sometimes a hidden camera captures PINs, so scammers can clean out victim’s bank accounts. Of course, ATMs have their own security cameras, which catch images of the scammers at work. Like this footage from a recent skimmer installation at Navy Federal Credit Union branches in northern Virginia. [More]
More Tiny ATM Skimmers That Will Haunt Your Wallet’s Nightmares
By 7.8.14
Would you notice a tiny ATM skimmer that hides just inside the card slot and slurps up your personal data? The European ATM Security Team, a not-for-profit organization that tracks ATM-related crime in different parts of the European Union, recently showed off some new and nearly invisible skimmers that they harvested in an unnamed country. It’s like a horror movie for your bank account. [More]
Criminals Stuff Macau ATMs With Malware, Extract Customers’ Money
By 5.30.14
Did you think that tiny Bluetooth ATM skimmers were a terrifying prospect? Two men in Macau are accused of using long strips that look like circuit boards to infect ATMs and digitally extract customers’ card numbers and PINs. [More]
MasterCard Extends Zero-Liability Policy To ATM & PIN Transactions
By 5.28.14
While both MasterCard and Visa have zero-liability policies for fraudulent transactions made by swiping a card or using the card number online or over the phone, that same level of protection has not been afforded to all cardholders for bogus ATM withdrawals or PIN-based purchases. However, MasterCard announced today that it is extending the zero-liability policy in the U.S. to include these two types of transactions. [More]
Tiny Bluetooth Card Skimmers Will Make You Hug Your Debit Card
By 1.23.14
It’s probably not a good idea to use your debit card at the gas pump. Not because we have anything against debit cards, but because we’ve learned of yet another group of criminals who planted invisible card skimmers in pay-at-the-pump machines at gas stations in the southern United States. [More]
Tiny Bluetooth Gas Pump Skimmers Are Here To Gobble Your Credit Card Info
By 7.30.13
In the above picture, on the left you see a brand-new credit/debit card for gas pumps. On the right is the same device with a card-skimming device placed in the conveniently empty slot. How can consumers avoid having their card information skimmed by crooks using similar devices? You probably won’t even know until the fraudulent purchases hit your account. [More]
No, This Shady-Looking ATM Repair Is Totally Not A Card Skimmer
By 5.29.12
John has read our previous posts on ATM skimmers tacked on machines by crooks, and knows what to watch out for. If you see card slots and other components that don’t quite seem to match the rest of the machine and seem tacked on, that’s a big warning sign. So when he saw this rather sketchy-looking addition to a machine, he thought it might be a skimming device. When he called up the bank, he learned that it wasn’t: apparently, they just did kind of a crappy repair job. [More]
