Here's What A Card Skimmer Looks Like On An ATM

http://consumerist.com/5218680/heres-what-a-card-skimmer-looks-like-on-an-atm

by skant • 17 years ago

56 11 17 years ago

maximilian• 17 years ago

Some of the skimmers i've seen pics of online are pretty darn convincing. I'm definitely going to try and keep a eye out and always try to be a little "rough" with the card slot at atms.

matt1• 17 years ago

I remember reading in one of Bruce Schneier's books that some clever thiefs set up a fake ATM machine outside the Burlington Mall in CT. When people went to withdraw money, the machine recorded their credentials and then displayed an ambiguous error message.

You have to wonder how they got the information from the machine, as it would have been relatively easy for the police to watch it once someone figured out it was a fake.

vaksel• 17 years ago

WiFi

wallflower• 17 years ago

The card skimmers I see now are lit up with an internal ring of green LEDs to reassure the consumer (I always whack it with my hand).

dchest2• 17 years ago

Recently I noticed that banks began securing they ATMs against skimmers: ATMs display a picture of card reader with a message "Please make sure it looks like the one on the picture. If not, don't insert your card and call us."

I wonder if this works.

tdm911• 17 years ago

To be honest, getting money from an ATM is one of those activities I do largely on auto-pilot. I couldn't guarantee I would actually read each screen, more I know what to look for and hit the big withdraw button!

Perhaps it's time to take a little more care with this particular activity.

there• 17 years ago

sounds like the "don't use if seal is broken" warning. if i'm planning on tampering with it, wouldn't i remove the warning about the broken seal too?

Devilboy• 17 years ago

The warning is displayed on the computer monitor.

whatusername• 17 years ago

Depends on the design. I think the glass jars do this really really well. The seal is obvious - and it can easily be checked if it's broken or not

dchest2• 17 years ago

You'd have to hack into ATM and change its software instead of just attaching the skimmer.

skant• 17 years ago

All on ATM skimmers: http://logs.shashikant.in/post/98607370/what-is-an-atm-skimm...

Here's What A Card Skimmer Looks Like On An ATM

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