Fake ATM Fraud Expose

santos_douglas writes "Forget ATMs coming under attack by worms, MSNBC has this article about Dateline NBC's investigative report into fake ATMs and other ATM related scams. ATM frauds are a clever combination of social engineering and hardware hacking. The most sophisticated thefts involve the purchase and setup of real ATMs that actually do dispense cash to avoid suspicion, but are altered to save both the card's magnetic signature and the customers PIN, which are later added to false cards and used to empty bank accounts at real ATMS. The 'ATM gang' profiled managed to purchase and setup 50+ machines and steal over $4 million from over 21,000 customers. The machines can be purchased legitimately and hooked into the banking network with no more than a regular bank account. Less sophisticated attacks include building and attaching false fronts to existing ATMs to collect info, and using covert cameras to collect PINs from afar. The articles has some handy tips for avoiding scams."