All About Skimmers
Comments
BrentOzar
pixxel
A truly fascinating read. This made me chuckle:
> audio skimmers allow fraudsters to sell lucrative service contracts along with their theft devices. The vendor of this skimmer kit advertises “full support after purchase,” and “easy installation (10-15 seconds).” But the catch with this skimmer is that the price tag is misleading. That’s because the audio files recorded by the device are encrypted. The Mp3 files are useless unless you also purchase the skimmer maker’s decryption service, which decodes the audio files into a digital format that can be encoded onto counterfeit ATM cards
AceJohnny2
There truly is no honor among thieves.
whywhywhywhy
I'll never understand why their attack against skimmers was to put a giant molded piece of plastic over the slot which doesn't even look like its attached to the rest of the machine anyway and can easily be removed of sheathed with a skimmer.
Surely the correct attack would be to make the slot as flush and minimal as possible without indentation so to hide a skimmer the entire front of the machine would need to be faked.
bilekas
This is ancient and is one of the core staples of Krebs' journalism. If you're only reading it now you're in for a treat with the rest of his work.
ck2
I realize the logic is criminals go where the money is but crime is just so weird.
I mean unless it's a one-shot deal, sooner or later you are going to be caught and then end up with consequences for everything.
Yeah I know, not deep thinkers but still, this is way more effort than smash'n'grab car windows in the parking lot, they have to think out a little in the future with that level of commitment.
asnyder
I was a victim of skimming on my Revolut card at an Allpoint ATM within their network. Despite the clear evidence, police report, and evidence from the skimmed withdrawal ATM camera clearly showing the withdrawal without my card, Revolut essentially bunted and all but admitted (via a month of disjointed back and forths with what seemed liked 50+ reps) they don't deal, reimburse, or follow-up with skimming leaving me on the hook and the culprit without repercussions.
I know the NYPD may be making a case but haven't heard a follow-up, despite them already having clear video evidence of the suspect from the ATM attempts in what's now been ~5 months since the incident and still haven't been made whole.
Since then I don't leave any funds in Revolut as they pretend to not be a bank except when it suits them. There's something to be said to be able to actually walk into a bank, or make a call and have someone that can actually do something to resolve the issue and potentially follow-up with the authorities, versus leaving it all to the victim, and tough luck.
Still have to follow-up with the banking authorities to file complaints against Revolut along with all the evidence and police findings in the hopes of some positive conclusion, but as you can see is a lot of effort on my part, and in the meantime the culprit continues to prosper.
Our police and banking systems are clearly not setup or capable to handle fraud crimes and the criminals know it, taking advantage of it all the way to the bank.
myself248
I don't recognize either of those names so I guess they're not nationwide, but has the local news covered this at all? Surely others must've been impacted. Have you reached out to any reporters?
asnyder
Revolut is nationwide, but they're more known in Europe. They're one of those "modern finance app bank/not-bank" services, similar to Wise, etc., but Wise has much better service and accountability. Allpoint is an ATM network that many of these non-bank, or smaller banks use to allow them to adopt an ATM network without having to create their own.
Yes, others have been impacted as a Google search quickly reveals. Skimming is rampant in NYC so can be hard to get press attention for something so common, and frankly the whole process has been exhausting. Even filing a police report to get the police involved required an absurd number of steps and games of precinct hot-potato as they all say "Not it". Is the precinct where the card was skimmed, the card used, or where I live responsible? Ultimately (after numerous treks to the different precincts in different parts of the Borough) the NYPD decided it's the precinct where I live despite it being neither where I was skimmed or the fraudulent transactions took place.
Will reach out to the banking authorities and local press after I get the latest update from the NYPD. Again, just exhausting.
avidiax
The genius is coming up with the skimmer kits and selling them for $1k-$5k.
Or you discount the hardware but encrypt the data and charge a fee per card to decrypt.
DANmode
One is greyhat hardware retail¹, the other is directly aiding and abetting pretty serious crime.
¹Dependent on jurisdiction
nubb
while criminals are pretty individualistic, they work in groups. eggs get broken to make the omelette, cost of doing business, etc.
not to mention criminals can stash money and retrieve it when they are released.
tldr - the idea of doing enough crime to save a lot of money and live on it on the other side, is pretty appealing to a lot of ppl.
Needs "2016" in the title.
Past discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8327676