Possible cash machine fraud

[motco]

Mods, I am not sure which category this should be in but as it might be crime, I thought SP&L suitable.

I used an ATM today and I am not sure whether it was fitted with a skimmer or not. It looked so 'proper' that it wasn't until afterwards that worms of doubt began gnawing away at me. The cash dispenser is located at a petrol station and is run by a company unconnected (as far as I know) to any bank - certainly not my bank anyway. The device below was on the front of the card slot and it had on it a label describing it as a card security device. Another label on the fascia of the ATM made the same point. Both the labels and the green moulding looked good quality and 'right'.

I phoned my bank and they told me to keep an eye on my account for activity not carried out be me, but that I would have to report the device to the ATM operator. This I did and was assured, after much coming and going, that it was legitimate - not to worry. At their request I sent details of the location and my personal details. In the meantime I had done a bit of Googling and found the picture below on a New Zealand website dealing with ATM fraud. It is a skimmer they say in the article with the picture. NZ Skimmer

The reply from the operator said that they had closed the machine and sent an engineer out to look at it. Hardly what you might expect if it is kosher! Anyway, having a security device that looks like a known skimmer is hardly ideal.

[Tom_C76]

What the NZ article describes was added to that green housing, also in green to blend in. I've seen those on lots of cash machines.

[andburg]

I'd expect its standard practice to disable an atm where anyone has made a suspicious report.

[marshalla]

Some ATMs do have those green slots when they leave the factory. It's actually supposed to make it harder to fit a skimmer - until the crims. figure out how to subvert it.

http://www.ncr.com/financial-services/cash-dispens...

[marshalla]

P.S. - the scammers are moving on to more "sophisticated" methods than skimmers : http://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/02/skimmers-hijack...

[motco]

Tom_C76 said:

What the NZ article describes was added to that green housing, also in green to blend in. I've seen those on lots of cash machines.

Yes it does, but it fails to show just what is skimmer and what is legitimate component. For reasons irrelevant to this thread, I had an unusually large sum in my current account this morning - mostly gone now as I moved it to safety, but it did sharpen my paranoia circuits somewhat.