Crooks Go Deep With ‘Deep Insert’ Skimmers
ATM maker NCR Corp. says it is seeing a rapid rise in reports of what it calls “deep insert skimmers,” wafer-thin fraud devices made to be hidden inside of the card acceptance slot on a cash machine.
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A Dramatic Rise in ATM Skimming Attacks
Skimming attacks on ATMs increased at an alarming rate last year for both American and European banks and their customers, according to recent stats collected by fraud trackers. The trend appears to be continuing into 2016, with outbreaks of skimming activity visiting a much broader swath of the United States than in years past.
More on Wiretapping ATM Skimmers
Last month, this blog featured a story about an innovation in ATM skimming known as wiretapping, which I said involves a “tiny” hole cut in the ATM’s front through which thieves insert devices capable of eavesdropping on and recording the ATM user’s card data. Turns out, the holes the crooks make to insert their gear tend to be anything but tiny.
Skimmer Innovation: ‘Wiretapping’ ATMs
Banks in Europe are warning about the emergence of a rare form of ATM skimmer involving a wire-like device that is inserted through a tiny hole cut in the cash machine’s front. The hole is covered up by a fake decal, and the thieves somehow attach the device to the place inside the ATM where the customer’s card is inserted.
Spike in Malware Attacks on Aging ATMs
This author has long been fascinated with ATM skimmers, custom-made fraud devices designed to steal card data and PINs from unsuspecting users of compromised cash machines. But a recent spike in malicious software capable of infecting and jackpotting ATMs is shifting the focus away from innovative, high-tech skimming devices toward the rapidly aging ATM infrastructure in the United States and abroad.
Stealthy, Razor Thin ATM Insert Skimmers
An increasing number of ATM skimmers targeting banks and consumers appear to be of the razor-thin insert variety. These card-skimming devices are made to fit snugly and invisibly inside the throat of the card acceptance slot. Here’s a look at a stealthy new model of insert skimmer pulled from a cash machine in southern Europe just this past week.
The Rise of Thin, Mini and Insert Skimmers
Like most electronic gadgets these days, ATM skimmers are getting smaller and thinner, with extended battery life. Here’s a look at several miniaturized fraud devices that were pulled from compromised cash machines at various ATMs in Europe so far this year.
How Not to Install an ATM Skimmer
Experts in the United States and Europe are tracking a marked increase in ATM skimmer scams. But let’s hope that at least some of that is the result of newbie crooks who fail as hard as the thief who tried to tamper with a Bank of America ATM earlier this week in Nashville.
Nashville police released a series of still photos (which I made into a slideshow, below) that show a man attaching a card skimming device to a local ATM, and then affixing a false panel above the PIN pad that includes a tiny video camera to record victims entering their PINs. According to Nashville NBC affiliate WSMV.com, this scammer’s scheme didn’t work as planned: The card skimmer overlay came off of the ATM in the hands of the first customer who tried to use it.
Cash Claws, Fake Fascias & Tampered Tickets
Credit and debit card skimmers aren’t just for ATMs anymore. According to European anti-fraud experts, innovative skimming devices are being found on everything from train ticket kiosks to parking meters and a host of other unattended payment terminals.
Beware Card- and Cash-Trapping at the ATM
Many security-savvy readers of this blog have learned to be vigilant against ATM card skimmers and hidden devices that can record you entering your PIN at the cash machine. But experts say an increasing form of ATM fraud involves the use of simple devices capable of snatching cash and ATM cards from unsuspected users.
