ATM Cash Fraud - Getting Popular

m4x_2

I had a problem with my Debit card with Natwest.

I used an ATM in central London: Oxford Street in the form of Loyds TSB, apparantaly there was a device which cloned my card and my pin. I withdrew £20 on a Saturdat Night, the queue on the ATM's were very very long.

I got a phonecall on Monday morning asking me if I had made two withdrawals of £250 each time within 12 hours,

1 @ 1915 on Sunday
2 @ 0714 on Monday

hell NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :mad:

i was fuming.

The Natwest agent explained to me the devices are common now, alot of cards are cloned.

That Machine was running slow.



********If you notice an ATM is unsually SLOW then cancel and use another********


I managed to get the money back after alot of investigation and after reporting to police, filling out a load of forms etc.

They cant check CCTV apparantly because its not a murder crime. The local council will not give out to any source unless Police.

lipidicman

Look for the devices on the slot and ALWAYS shield your pin from cameras or shoulder surfers. Also be aware of people around you - the old distract and grab.

daveboy

It is a good idea to, as much as possible, use the cashback facility in supermarkets if you want anything up to and including £50.

lipidicman

Check they actually give you the money. Oops, the shifty looking bstard seems to have forgotten again!

m4x_2

Yeh I dont think I will fall into this trap again.

Thanks for your help guys.

knuckledragger

Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road are particularly bad for cloning devices. Eastern European gangs have been doing the scams there for some time occasionally using pinhole cameras which wirelessly send the recorded image to a waiting recording device nearby.
The Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street was a hotspot for shoulder surfing and the "Pennies from heaven" distraction technique. It has been featured on a few police documentaries in the last couple of years.

James

Because tens of millions of credit cards now operate with PINs (in shops) and you can use a credit card to withdraw cash, expect to see ATM fraud, rise and rise and rise.

A recent survey suggests quite a number of cardholders change all their cards to operate with the same PIN - rich pickings for crooks.

The thing is a stolen or counterfeit card can be used to withdraw cash at an ATM - The PIN though must be valid, therefore why isn't the card industry telling cardholders that a Chip & Signature Card is an option.

Be on the safe side opt for Chip and Signature Credit Cards!

daveboy

Truth be told no-one should be using a credit card to withdraw money from an ATM, full stop. What m4x says is important and is relevant to credit cards - the original post relates to debit cards so therefore the thread may have been better in the current account section.

W1zz

As James points out - Most of us are using Chip & Pin on our Credit cards. All it takes is for a dodgy shop/petrol station to skim your card for the magnetic strip and then place it in a Chip & Pin keypad (with security camera's trained to watch your PIN).

You'd have thought that we'd have 2 PIN's - One for purchases, and one for cash withdraws. Or better still, be able to opt out of being able to use your credit card in an ATM.

lipidicman

The opt out would be great - stop foolish cash withdrawals on 0% cards then too

Pennies from heaven technique?

lush_walrus

knuckledragger wrote:

Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road are particularly bad for cloning devices. Eastern European gangs have been doing the scams there for some time occasionally using pinhole cameras which wirelessly send the recorded image to a waiting recording device nearby.
The Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street was a hotspot for shoulder surfing and the "Pennies from heaven" distraction technique. It has been featured on a few police documentaries in the last couple of years.

Its not just in busy areas such as Oxford St that this is popular. I work in Farringdon, and the only bank has been cloned 4 times in the last 3 weeks!!!!
Simularily in Liverpool St and Moorgate.

If you need cash out I would stick to the 24hr holes in the wall which are inside the banks. At least these are well covered by CCTV, and as such are a higher risk for the gangs to target, the vast majority have not been cloned.

We had a police visit to our building to explain how to look for the devises etc, apparently they only leave the device in place for a very short amount of time generally 15min blocks, so they can get the information off and use it as quickly as possible.

As a result of this, they also generally aim for busy banks, as within the 15min slot they can get the information of many many cards. Apparently, you are also more likely to be the victim of cloning around the time that pubs or clubs close in the area, as they predict that most people will be using the machine while drunk and as such less likely to notice the devices are in place.