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112 Comments
- MinervaDreaming, on 04/07/2009, -1/+142Well, I'm the guy that found that skimmer and submitted the story and photos to The Consumerist. I am pretty blown away by how "big" this has gotten since yesterday.
To answer some questions here:
-Yes, I realize I left prints on it. Oh well. The cops didn't want anything to do with it, anyway, which was also rather shocking. Sure, I'll just go ahead and hold on to this item with people's personal info until Monday....ugh.
-Nobody questioned why I was ripping the machine apart because nobody else was around. When it came off in my hand, though, I got pretty nervous and looked around to make sure nobody was coming at me with a baseball bat/gun/etc.
-Didn't find a camera after looking later, but that doesn't mean it wasn't taken off sometime in the hours between my first finding it and looking at it again w/ the bank manager.
-The electric source is under the masking tape on the back - a small battery with what looked like a miniSD card taped to it.
-I totally agree that removing it was a bad idea, but it actually came off surprisingly easily. When it did come off, it was a major "uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhh......" moment for me :P - inactive, on 04/07/2009, -1/+131i truly believed this was going to be about some strange water dancing, super thin amphibian or something..
- Lorddias, on 04/07/2009, -0/+92Lesson learned: Always attempt to rip off the face of an atm before inserting card.
- vtbarrera, on 04/07/2009, -1/+55That card skimmer looked pretty worn. I wonder how many cards it captured in previous go around at the local bank.
- duncan202, on 04/07/2009, -0/+54You're just trying to dissuade people from removing your skimmer.
- MinervaDreaming, on 04/07/2009, -0/+42You have no idea how much willpower it took NOT to plug that thing in just to see what happened! I did not give in, however.
- mrgarci1, on 04/07/2009, -0/+42I think your avatar answers that question.
- Hardataq, on 04/07/2009, -0/+39That's a pretty cool story though. I'll go ahead and throw you a "thanks" for the bunch of people whose credit you just saved. I'm curious...did ya plug it in? ;)
- TheCash, on 04/07/2009, -7/+42Hope they didn't plan on lifting any prints off the inside of that thing. Way to go Columbo, next time try putting on some gloves before modeling it for the camera.
- inactive, on 04/07/2009, -1/+35Unless of course you're referring to the notorious Ass To Mouth Machine
- kd420, on 04/07/2009, -3/+34On the inside? There are two pictures, both with his hand holding the outer edge. The police wouldn't have gotten a print from there anyways. Also, I would rather he removed it any way possible, even if he lost all evidence, then let another person have their card scanned.
- inactive, on 04/07/2009, -2/+32You do realize how many prints would be on that thing, right?
- TheCash, on 04/07/2009, -1/+28On the inside? Only those of the person who constructed and planted it, till this guy came along.
- misreto, on 04/07/2009, -1/+28Imagine the look on the guys face when he comes back and see's that his skimmer is gone.
- dazparkour, on 04/07/2009, -0/+21I'm not your mate buddy.
- KSUdesigner, on 04/07/2009, -1/+19There aren't generally crowds of people standing around ATMs, so I'd guess not that many people questioned it.
BTW, putting the word "machine" after "ATM" is redundant. - JackGrinnan, on 04/07/2009, -0/+17What the?
- majordanger, on 04/08/2009, -0/+16I always tell my man friends... Take a good long look at it before sliding yours in.
- stix213, on 04/07/2009, -1/+17Washington Mutual??? How old is this freaking story? Next they will say his card was used at a CompUSA.
- inactive, on 04/07/2009, -2/+16The Consumerist via BoingBoing via Gizmodo
Why not just link to The Consumerist who has the more in depth article as they wrote it. As a plus, Gizmodo and BoingBoing miss out on advertising revenue they would have unjustly earned for a simple copy/paste operation. - Gareth321, on 04/08/2009, -1/+15Which is why the guy should've left the device attached and called police. They just have to sit there for a day or so and wait for the idiot to retrieve the device.
- ironiridis, on 04/07/2009, -0/+12Until I got a confirmation that my card was part of the massive Heartland breech, a skimmer was the only explanation for some fraud that hit my account, according to my bank. Brand new card, never used anywhere except at an ATM and some retail locations.
- dazparkour, on 04/07/2009, -1/+12Doesn't need to be - you watch too much TV.
Not many places use a PIN online. - lilrabbit129, on 04/07/2009, -2/+13That is idiotic. Supposedly this will happen inside a bank or at least next to a bank/supermarket etc. If a criminal tried to beat you there, infront of everyone then they'd be arrested pretty quickly( or at least detained by security).
Though if this was true, then just another reason everyone should be armed. If the criminal knows that odds are you're packing heat, they'll think twice about trying to rough you up. - Rikkochet, on 04/07/2009, -0/+11Columbo probably wouldn't waste time with prints and would instead download the list of card numbers from the skimmer and determine when the first card was scanned and look back at the last person to use the ATM BEFORE that first card got scanned.
And if the bank wasn't storing video long enough, I think people need to take that up with their banks. - linagee, on 04/07/2009, -1/+12Agreed. Police are really bad at retrieving prints unless it's a perfect surface for them. Last time my car was broken into and something expensive was stolen, the police were just like, "we can't take prints because it's not a good surface blah blah blah". Maybe they were just lazy though.
- trixdropd, on 04/07/2009, -0/+10that's not sad...
- MinervaDreaming, on 04/07/2009, -0/+10You touch my nuggets, I touch your "nuggets."
- ryanspeck, on 04/07/2009, -1/+11The cops had no interest in it, much less to attempt to collect prints off of something sitting in public.
They told the man to take it to WaMu and they can investigate internally and file a police report if they want. - JT3989, on 04/07/2009, -1/+11i think that it just has a small amount of memory in it so it can record the numbers then the theif takes the skimmer off and hooks it up to a computer
- TnTBass, on 04/07/2009, -1/+11I would have, if not just to see what was on it (what was captured, etc).
Sadly, I'm too damn honest to use anything I would have found. - linagee, on 04/07/2009, -0/+9Depends if they used the card numbers online. When is the last time Amazon asked you for a PIN on your credit card?
- Battlecry, on 04/07/2009, -1/+9The fingerprints would be on the tape, unless the crook used gloves, which makes it a moot point.
- sayshuh, on 04/07/2009, -0/+7Lemme tell you something. I know where you live and where you keep your frozen soy nuggets. I live there too. If the skimmer tracks this all back to find out where our friggin house is, i'm gonna not flush for days.
- linagee, on 04/07/2009, -0/+7hahaha. if you were beaten by the criminal that's the BEST thing that could happen. the worst thing is the police catch you removing it and arrest YOU.
- celotil, on 04/07/2009, -0/+7Not a bad idea really - just don't be too rough.
There was a story on the news here about a year ago about a skimmer found on a Commonwealth Bank ATM - can't remember if it was Brisbane or Sydney.
Instead of trying to dummy up a fake slot that looked like it fit in with the rest of the "decor", the would-be thieves used a whole ATM face plate, complete with card skimmer, PIN catcher, and pin-hole camera.
My guess is they were targeting any sort of card while keeping in mind credit cards with the id photo printed on the front, using the pin hole camera to catch shots of the owners and ensure that fake credit cards were used by people who looked like the original owner - in case a shop owner was familiar with the person who actually owned the original, photo-on-the-front card. - Julian88888888, on 04/07/2009, -1/+7then post one that does look real, ass.
- LordRedSnake, on 04/08/2009, -1/+7Yes, JP Morgan acquired WaMu's assets, but there are still hundreds of branches bearing the WaMu name. They're scheduled to be rebranded by the end of the year, but that goal is far from being finished.
- ASSASSYN360, on 04/08/2009, -0/+6Masking tape...amatuers.
- flyingclutchman, on 04/07/2009, -0/+6He's saying that because you would need it to get the PIN, which you only need if you are running the card as a debit card or want to get cash from the atm, most debit cards you can run as credit though which needs no pin.
- addakorn, on 04/07/2009, -1/+7The last time I used a stolen debit card at a bank ATM, I simply placed a mask over my face. This prevented my capture and prosecution.
The camera does not authenticate the user of the ATM, it is used retroactively to assist in the identification of criminals. - alpharaptor, on 04/07/2009, -0/+6it looks hand crafted
- abaddon15, on 04/08/2009, -0/+6I had that same thought.
- Jeremyz0r, on 04/08/2009, -0/+5Innocent until proven guilty?
- jaschen, on 04/08/2009, -0/+5Wells Fargo's ATM spits the card out SUPER slow now and when I asked why, they told me that they do that on purpose. Apparently if the card comes out slowly, its hard for the skimmer to read the card.
- mrgarci1, on 04/07/2009, -0/+5how do you figure, sports fan? why is there probably a pin hole camera? from a carder's perspective, that's a lot of extra work and risk for not a lot of payoff.
- linagee, on 04/07/2009, -0/+5I want to see under the tape. Was it jury rigged circuitry, or a professional job?
- addakorn, on 04/07/2009, -1/+6Yeah, no.
The face of the ATM most likely did not cover the screen or pin pad. If the ATM still works, then most people wouldn't think twice about reporting it.
Rarely will a (pro) thief use a card in an area that either they or their prey would be recognized. - chagwood, on 04/08/2009, -9/+14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _________
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