Debit Card Fraudsters Using Modified ABMs

Debit Cards Compromised by Tampered with ABMs

Debit card fraud continues to be an issue in Canada.  Chip and Pin technology is expected to make a significant impact on this, but fraudsters are taking advantage of the time it will take to properly equip automated banking machines (ABMs) and retailers and replace the millions of bank cards in circulation.

A recent skimming operation involved suspects placing a second card reader over the card reader on the ABM.  This meant that as the customer inserted their card in the machine, it would pass through the extra reader and the card information on the magnetic stripe would be recorded.

The information on the magnetic stripe in and of itself is not enough for someone to access a bank account.  The skimmed information is almost useless without the correct personal identification number (PIN).

In addition to the reader described above, suspects also installed a small, low profile, wireless camera on the ABM pointed at the keypad to record PINs as they were entered.  It is suspected that the fraudsters would be sitting near the compromised machine with a laptop to receive the camera feed via WiFi or BlueTooth.

The images below are not from the scheme described above, but do show an example of a tampered with ABM.

This image shows an uncompromised ABM.  Notice that the card slot on this machine is clearly molded as part of the face of the unit.
This image shows the same machine, but this time compromised with an additional reader placed over the card slot on the machine.  It would almost appear to be part of the machine and would likely go unnoticed by a customer unaware of this security concern.

Note that in addition to the card skimmer, something must be installed on the unit to record PIN information.  As mentioned above, this is commonly a covert camera, but technically could include a second keypad installed over the existing keypad which records key strokes, but also activates the existing keys to keep the ABM in operation.

If you discovered anything that makes you suspect that an ABM has been compromised, don't use the ABM and report your suspicions to the financial institution that operates the machine.