"IDG News Service - Criminals running an ATM card-skimming scam made a big mistake this week: They tried to hit the Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas.
"As the conference was kicking off a few days ago, attendees noticed that an ATM placed in the Riviera Hotel, which plays host to the annual event, didn't quite look right, according to a senior conference organizer who identified himself only as Priest. 'They looked at the screen where there would normally be a camera,' he said. 'It was a little bit too dark, so someone shined a flashlight in there and there was a PC.'"
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136179/Fake_ATM_doesn_t_last_long_at_hacker_meet
I'd never heard of fake ATMs before this. You put in your card and type in your PIN. The machine then tells you that it is temporarily out of service and gives you your card back. You go looking for another ATM. Meanwhile, the fake machine has recorded your card info and PIN. The crooks get more and more sophisticated.
Here's Defcon's site, if you'e not afraid that they'll hack you: http://www.defcon.org/
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4 comments:
Ha!! I wonder if they know how long it's been there?
I have heard of this scam before where they did the same thing. It amazes me the boldness of some people
One of the articles I read said that the fake ATM was near the entrance door for hotel security. But rather than taunting security, they figured the crooks chose that spot because it wasn't covered by cameras. So I don't think they have any way of knowing how long the machine was there, unless someone remembers when it appeared.
About a year ago I lost my ATM card...accidentally left it in a machine. No biggy...no one used it, bank gave me a new one.
They also gave me a new PIN. I looked at my card and, based on certain factors, I noticed the PIN fit an interesting pattern. If I was right and the bank assigned PINs using this technique, I instantly knew the PIN of everyone else who used that bank. I found a friend who used the same bank and told him I could guess his PIN if I looked at his card. Yep, the pattern I noticed was correct and simple enough to do without a calculator!
I called the bank and got my PIN changed. You don't have to go to Defcon to figure out some hacks! You just have to notice things around you.
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