fruit machine scam

[pies1981]

Last night i was out, and whilst in a bar i saw two lads walk in and walk straight to a fruit machine, one of 2 standing next to each other.
I knew they were upto something because they were constantly watching the bar attendands, but they seemed little bothered by me and my mates standing right by them.

After a few minutes of watching them play i noticed the one lad get out of his pocket what looked like a tuning fork shaped object made from metal that looked about the same shape and thickness as a coat hanger.
He then pushed into one of 2 cavaties in the back of the machine.
The one playing it then hit some more buttons, and his mate repeated with the tuning fork.
At this point i went off to tell the bar staff, however when i came back, literally 2 minutes after my mates said they "won" about £60 and they both left sharpish!!

So what were they actually doing with that fork thing and what was it?

Edited by pies1981 on Thursday 25th December 09:24

Edited by pies1981 on Thursday 25th December 09:27

[Driller]

pies1981 said:

a tuning fork sort of shaped object made from metal that looked about the same shape and thickness as a coat hanger.

[Mark-2]

They were sticking the metal fork in so they would get electricuted, some people are into that kind of thing...

[pies1981]

Driller said:

pies1981 said:

a tuning fork sort of shaped object made from metal that looked about the same shape and thickness as a coat hanger.

I know my description is crap, guiness hangover!!

Imagine sticking two fingers up at someone, and then bending round that outline with a coathanger??

It looked like it had been specifically made for that job, i was wondering if it was an engineer's tool they had got hold of or something?

Edited by pies1981 on Thursday 25th December 09:22

[pies1981]

I just had a quick look on ebay, can only see normal fruit machine keys

[Wacky Racer]

They sound like A couple of minor criminals, I expect they had to keep a sharp lookout, so they could make their escape B fore anyone could C them.......

[pies1981]

Wacky Racer said:

They sound like A couple of minor criminals, I expect they had to keep a sharp lookout, so they could make their escape B fore anyone could C them.......

very good!!!!

[Westy Pre-Lit]

I used to know a bloke years ago who was a fruit machine engineer. He'd get banned where ever he went as he'd know the sequences a machine would need to make a payout.

I saw him pocket £200 in the space of about 20mins once.

Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Thursday 25th December 09:56

[elster]

Westy Pre-Lit said:

I used to know a bloke years ago who was a fruit machine engineer. He'd get banned where ever he went as he'd know the sequences a machine would need to make a payout.

I saw him pocket £200 in the space of about 20mins once.

Edited by Westy Pre-Lit on Thursday 25th December 09:56

That was obviously a while ago, fruit machines are almost 100% unscamable. Unless you have some keys to dump the hopper. But someone would notice that. There are a couple of machines in circulation still that are a bit off. Most have had updated EEPROM's in, so changed if anything is ever discovered.

[D14 AYS]

In my misspent youth me and my brothers would earn a good living doing this we called it Shackling,we used a bit of Tupperware lid cut in a strip about 4mm wide and 20cm long with a split in the end.

[ShadownINja]

D14 AYS said:

In my misspent youth me and my brothers would earn a good living doing this we called it Shackling,we used a bit of Tupperware lid cut in a strip about 4mm wide and 20cm long with a split in the end.

The police call it theft.

[dickymint]

Used to stick gum in the reject coin slot in phone boxes. Return later in the day, remove said gum and press button B for some sweety money

[g3rrd]

In the bad old days of "inbetween" jobs I would drive my mate around different pubs looking for a specific style of fruit machine.
No tools or skullduggery needed just his skill at playing the machine.
Visit seven or eight establishments and over the four or five hours split the monies 50/50 and average £25 each. Easy pickings.

[TheEnd]

always hit the refund button on pub condom machines too, loads of people put a quid in, about to select something when someone walks in and they quickly disappear, in case it's the boyfriend of the work collegue they been speaking to all night

[ShadownINja]

TheEnd said:

always hit the refund button on pub condom machines too, loads of people put a quid in, about to select something when someone walks in and they quickly disappear, in case it's the boyfriend of the work collegue they been speaking to all night

What if you hit the refund button just as the boyfriend of the work colleague you've been speaking to all night walks through the door?

[russ_a]

as kids we used to stick silver foil onto 10p pieces. These could then be used as 50ps in the school vending machines. Plus if the machine had change you could insert your 10p and then take 50p change

[ik]

And it's goodbye from him...

Edited by Stuart on Thursday 25th December 17:26

[cazzer]

Back in the day 5p coins used to be the same size and weight as austrian schillings (worth about £1.50 at the time).
You could use them in austrian vending machines.

Admittedly not a regularly available scam, but made for a cheap school holiday once

[g4ry13]

Well the more modern machines have a light sensor inside the machine and when someone wins it's activated and the payout is released. It could very well be it was one of these types of machines and they had a small light on the end of a flexible holding device and were just trying to position it in the right place to trigger the payout sensor.

[philthy]

cazzer said:

Back in the day 5p coins used to be the same size and weight as austrian schillings (worth about £1.50 at the time).
You could use them in austrian vending machines.

Admittedly not a regularly available scam, but made for a cheap school holiday once

......and the old shilling piece (pre decimalisation), passed for a German mark. The new 5p piece didn't quite work for some reason though.