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Bank ATMs Converted to Steal IDs of Bank Customers

Submitted by holycow on 1 June, 2004 - 21:14

[quote:4a1a44bb48]Bank ATMs Converted to Steal IDs of Bank Customers

A team of organized criminals is installing equipment on legitimate bank ATMs in at least 2 regions to steal both the ATM card number and the PIN. The team sits nearby in a car receiving the information transmitted wirelessly over weekends and evenings from equipment they install on the front of the ATM (see photos). If you see an attachment like this, do not use the ATM and report it immediately to the bank using the 800 number or phone on the front of the ATM.

The equipment used to capture your ATM card number and PIN is cleverly disguised to look like normal ATM equipment. A "skimmer" is mounted to the front of the normal ATM card slot that reads the ATM card number and transmits it to the criminals sitting in a nearby car.

At the same time, a wireless camera is disguised to look like a leaflet holder and is mounted in a position to view ATM PIN entries.

The thieves copy the cards and use the PIN numbers to withdraw thousands from many accounts in a very short time directly from the bank ATM. [/quote:4a1a44bb48]

[url]http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/atmcamera.asp[/url]
(Has pics)

Forums:

clever :) I remember this story about some guy in Madras who got caught using counterfeited cards.. some googling dug it up :) I wonder what his sentence was..

[quote:d2010cde60]It was not the first strike for the MBA graduate

By K. Manikandan

CHENNAI JUNE 16. It was not the first strike the MBA graduate made at an Automated Teller Machine in Pondy Bazaar, when he used counterfeit cards to draw cash to the tune of several lakhs. He had been carrying out a methodical and calculated `operation' in the city and Mumbai before getting trapped by an alert watchman in the wee hours of June 14.

Deepak Manwali, say Crime Branch officials, got the idea of breaking into the ATMs during his chat on e-mail with a U.S.-based friend. His friend gave him the formula for creating `magnetic bar-code stripes' and with the help of decoders, managed to create fake cards.

The `duplicate' cards were nothing more than plain plastic cards and with the magnetic stripes around them, managed to gain access into the ATMs to draw the cash.

Police officials said that following his arrest they were able to seize his laptop computer. They were still trying to figure out how he managed to decode the magnetic bar code stripes. They said that the theft could not be classified as a `cyber crime' as he had not manipulated the medium.

"He had just used the computer as a medium to have access to information and decode the stripes and not used it to gain access into the ATMs," they said. However, what puzzles the investigating agency is how the culprit was able to come up with the PIN for the cards.

They added that they were still quizzing Deepak to get this information and added they had roped in experts.

While the Saidapet Metropolitan Magistrate sent him to 15 days judicial custody, officials were trying to secure police custody of the accused.

Sources added there were complaints of similar crimes from New Delhi and that they were also looking at the probability of his role in those incidents too.

Meanwhile, authorities of the HDFC bank said none of the depositors' accounts was hacked into and maintained that it was a case of a fraud committed using `counterfeit cards'.

They sensed the problem from June 12 onwards and since then, watchmen at all ATMs were instructed to watch out for suspicious customers and field staff also began to make rounds. Suspecting the frequent visit to the ATM during hours, Mustafa, the watchman at the T.Nagar facility, was able to trap the accused inside before alerting the police who arrested him.

Deepak, according to police, selected only HDFC ATMs.

Before joining Cavinkare in Chennai on June 1 this year as its Production Manager, he had withdrawn Rs. 85,000 from a HDFC ATM in Mumbai.

Between June 8 and 14 he had drawn Rs. 7.5 lakhs from the bank's ATMs in the city.

Following a complaint from the Risk Control Officer of the bank, a case has been registered under various sections of IPC.

Police added that the clear picture would emerge only after investigation is completed.
© Copyright 2000 - 2004 The Hindu
[/quote:d2010cde60]

hehe ... nice story. I wonder whether the length of sentence would have been different if he'd hacked into HDFC a/cs, considering that India's IT act is not terribly strict...
[quote:3cf2eaf08c]
Meanwhile, authorities of the HDFC bank said none of the depositors' accounts was hacked into and maintained that it was a case of a fraud committed using `counterfeit cards'.
[/quote:3cf2eaf08c]
I wonder how that makes them any less responsible for poor security :S

HDFC has been really annoying me the last few times I've contacted them, and they still don't offer online access to my credit card statement :/

Morons :S

Here you go:

http://www.zdnetindia.com/thinktank/columnists/stories/855.html

http://www.mit.gov.in/itbillmain.asp

[quote:9b2e26b15e]Whoever with the intent to cause or knowing that he is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person destroys or deletes or alters any information residing in a computer resource or diminishes its value or utility or affects it injuriously by any means, commits hacking.[/quote:9b2e26b15e]

AFAIK nobody has been convicted of hacking in India..