Tag Archives: atm skimmer

ATM Skimmers, Up Close

January 17, 2011
36 Comments

Recently, I found a guy on an exclusive online scammer forum who has hawking variety of paraphernalia used in ATM skimmers, devices designed to be stuck on the outside of cash machines and steal ATM card and PIN data from bank customers. I wasn’t sure whether I could take this person seriously, but his ratings on the forum — in which fellow members leave feedback for others based on positive or negative experiences with previous transactions — were positive enough that I figured he must be one of the relatively few guys on this particular forum who was actually selling ATM skimmers, as opposed to just scamming other scammers.

All-in-One Skimmers

November 10, 2010
26 Comments

ATM skimmers come in all shapes and sizes, and most include several components — such as a tiny spy cam hidden in a brochure rack, or fraudulent PIN pad overlay. The problem from the thief’s perspective is that the more components included in the skimmer kit, the greater the chance that he will get busted attaching or removing the devices from ATMs.

Sophisticated ATM Skimmer Transmits Stolen Data Via Text Message

June 17, 2010
45 Comments

Operating and planting an ATM skimmer — cleverly disguised technology that thieves attach to cash machines to intercept credit and debit card data — can be a risky venture, because the crooks have to return to the scene of the crime to retrieve their skimmers along with the purloined data. Increasingly, however, criminals are using ATM skimmers that eliminate much of that risk by relaying the information via text message.

ATM Skimmers: Separating Cruft from Craft

June 3, 2010
43 Comments

ATM skimmers, fraud devices that criminals attach to cash machines in a bid to steal and ultimately clone customer bank card data, are marketed on a surprisingly large number of open forums and Web sites. For example, ATMbrakers operates a forum that claims to sell or even rent ATM skimmers. Tradekey.com, a place where you can find truly anything for sale, also markets these devices on the cheap.

The truth is that most of these skimmers openly advertised are little more than scams designed to separate clueless crooks from their ill-gotten gains. Start poking around on some of the more exclusive online fraud forums for sellers who have built up a reputation in this business and chances are eventually you will hit upon the real deal.

Fun with ATM Skimmers, Part III

May 7, 2010
44 Comments

ATM skimmers, or devices that thieves secretly attach to cash machines in order to capture and ultimately clone ATM cards, have captured the imagination of many readers. Past posts on this blog about ATM skimmers have focused on their prevalence and stealth in attacking cash machines in the United States, but these devices also are a major problem in Europe as well.

Would You Have Spotted this ATM Fraud?

March 25, 2010
91 Comments

The stories I’ve written on ATM skimmers — devices criminals sometime attach to bank money machines to steal customer data — remain the most popular at Krebs on Security so far. I think part of the public’s fascination with these devices is rooted in the idea that almost everyone uses ATMs, and that it’s entirely possible to encounter this quiet, unassuming type of crime right in very neighborhoods in which we live. Indeed, police in Alexandria, Va. — just a couple of miles to the East of where I live — recently were alerted to the skimmer found on an ATM at a Wachovia Bank there.

Would You Have Spotted the Fraud?

January 15, 2010
172 Comments

Pictured below is what’s known as a skimmer, or a device made to be affixed to the mouth of an ATM and secretly swipe credit and debit card information when bank customers slip their cards into the machines to pull out money. Skimmers have been around for years, of course, but thieves are constantly improving them, and the device pictured below is a perfect example of that evolution.