WARNING - A.T.M. Scam

Littleweedj

I lost £200 last night due to a scam at an ATM, which I now know is called The Lebanese Loop (after reporting to Fraud Team).

Basically you think the machine has swallowed your card for some reason, and retained the money, but it has been tampered with and you are being watched until you leave, then the false skimming device is removed along with a camera which has been used to read your pin number. They tried to withdraw more money seemingly (this is all recorded on your account details) but couldn't due to the fact I always (thankfully) cover the number pad with my hand, wallet etc.

I thought I had lost this amount but the bank have said they will reimburse me. So this is just a warning to all, I didn't notice anything different on the machine but if had known earlier would have noticed signs which the Fraud Team have now advised me about.

Look up Lebanese Loop if you want more details. Think, in future, I will use a branch when withdrawing money even if not so convenient.

SO BE AWARE!

TeamLowe

thanks for the tip, I've always known you have to be confident that the machine looks 'normal' but some of the counter-measure devices on machines don't look normal so i'm always paranoid!

just read the wiki article on it, it's quite scary how easy the device is to 'make'. copied the countermeasures as it's useful advice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanese_loop
Countermeasures

ATM manufacturers have resorted to several methods to counteract the Lebanese Loop, generally consisting of adding various sensing mechanisms to the card readers. Various network activity profiling processes can be applied to attempt to detect this activity.[9] Often ATM vestibules have video surveillance equipment installed in them, which can make identification of the perpetrator and method easier.[10]
ATM industry groups counsel cardholders to take precautions when entering their PIN into any device.[11] Customers are also advised to avoid an ATM if strangers are standing next to it (especially if they do not move after being asked), be careful of ATMs which appear out of the ordinary (such as having unusual instructions attached), to never enter a PIN number more than twice (to prevent the card from being retained by the machine), and to ignore advice from "helpful" strangers who may approach when they see a customer is having difficulty.[12]

PZH

TeamLowe wrote: »

thanks for the tip, I've always known you have to be confident that the machine looks 'normal' but some of the counter-measure devices on machines don't look normal so i'm always paranoid!...

Customers are also advised to avoid an ATM if strangers are standing next to it (especially if they do not move after being asked), be careful of ATMs which appear out of the ordinary (such as having unusual instructions attached), to never enter a PIN number more than twice (to prevent the card from being retained by the machine), and to ignore advice from "helpful" strangers who may approach when they see a customer is having difficulty.

I always give the card slot surround a good "tug" to make sure it's not a simple cover... I always look over my shoulder first before entering my PIN (Once had to ask a bloke to "back off" - he didn't look impressed, so I moved aside and let him go first)... And I always cover the keyboard with my hand / wallet...

Another tip is to ignore people who speak to you until you have your card and money safely in your hands.

There is a common scam were someone will advise that you've dropped something, when you turn round to see, another person grabs the card / money out of the ATM and legs it.

pmduk

Using ATMs inside branches isn't sufficient to avoid problems. A friend had his card trapped within a machine last year, they'd watched him for his pin and then spent £7-800 within 30 minutes.

Gra76

This is why I rarely (if ever) bother with ATM's anymore. I always carry a small amount of cash with me and when I need more I'll either get cashback from the local shops or go into the local branch of my bank and do it over the counter.

There was a program I watched called 'The Real Hustle' a few years back which showed how easy it was to set up a 'fake' ATM on pretty much any street. By the end of the day they could have made thousands. Very disturbing.

Edit - Went to find it on Youtube, and it's there - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T23gOh8ByUI

Takes some setting up, but the money you could make from it is probably more than worth it...

maninthestreet

OP - please tell is the exact location of the ATM in question.

I_luv_cats

Distraction is a huge problem.


A plain clothes police officer warned me that gangs were operating.




I wouldn't know how to spot a tampered machine. Some Barclays machines slide your card out and in before accepting.

lammy82

This happened to me and a friend literally 10 years ago in Bristol when she was withdrawing cash. We managed to remove the device from the machine just using our fingers and retrieved her card. It didn't occur to me at the time but the scammers would likely have been loitering nearby and watching over our shoulders for the PIN (this wasn't a skimming device, they could only trap one card at a time and they would have to remove the card themselves straight away for it to have worked).
Apparently they scarpered when they saw us pulling their device out of the machine and luckily didn't follow us home and try to get it back off us.

daveyjp

Cover the keyboard before entering your PIN. Its not as if you aren't instructed to everytime you enter your card.

Littleweedj

Also after reporting this at my local police office I'm feeling even angrier.

Spent half an hour submitting a crime report then the officer left to obtain a crime number. On return was informed that it wouldn't be filed as a crime as the bank had reimbursed me the money so it hadn't actually been stolen from me ......... What???????? so if I hadn't been reimbursed by my bank it would be a crime!! So instead it is recorded as an "incident".

So if a crime is to be judged on that criteria; if I was close to dying after an assault but the medical profession saved me does that mean no crime has been committed but if I died then it would be.

It's obvious that crime figures are being manipulated to suit the force and their targets. Some months earlier I had my wallet stolen from my bag and when reported the police officer advised it would be recorded as "lost" as there was no witness. Surely if someone had witnessed it then it may not have got stolen? I am actually an ex pc and quite appalled at this change in police behaviour in the way crimes are reported or not reported, thereby keeping figures low.

Seems these people/gangs, usually of a certain race, that I'm not allowed to state, are getting away with all types of scams etc, leaving the victims to be out of pocket, inconvenienced and wondering what they will be up to next. Just wish there was a solution.

mije1983

Littleweedj wrote: »

So if a crime is to be judged on that criteria; if I was close to dying after an assault but the medical profession saved me does that mean no crime has been committed but if I died then it would be.

No it doesn't mean that at all! It's not a great analogy to use as there would still be a crime committed, but what crime has been committed depends on the outcome of the assault. If you died then the perpetrator could be charged with murder/manslaughter, but if you didn't die then they couldn't.

You are understandably upset that you have fallen victim to this but it's good that you haven't lost the money in the end. Try not to dwell on it or you could end up getting yourself more worked up :beer: