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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

ATM Skimmers: Separating Cruft from Craft

Summary: Krebs on Security reports that most ATM skimmers openly advertised on forums and sites like Tradekey.com are scams aimed at ripping off other criminals, while genuine custom-built kits are sold quietly on reputation-based fraud forums. One such kit, made in Russia for an NCR ATM model 5886 and priced at about 8,000 Euro with shipping, pairs a card-slot reader with a fake PIN pad overlay, each relaying stolen data by SMS through its own miniature GSM device on lithium ion batteries rated for 3-5 days at 200-300 messages per day.

Why it matters: A kit that texts stolen card and PIN data to the fraudster removes the need to return to the machine to retrieve it, and its alarm feature transmits stored data the moment the device is disturbed, so a bank's discovery of the skimmer can itself trigger the exfiltration.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Fraud & Scams
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