ATM scam yields cards and PINs

imported ism

Posted Wednesday, 13 December 2006, 10:38 HST @818

This post was first published on my old blog at http://www.bloglines.com/blog/wsodeman?id=266

This scam uses social engineering and a homemade trap to retrieve an innocent customer’s ATM card and PIN. A strap is slipped inside the card slot of an ATM. An accomplice waits near the machine, and offers to “help” the victim retrieve their ATM card from the jammed slot.

The victim won’t see their card again. The criminals need is the victim’s PIN, because the accomplice will use the hidden strap to pull out the card after the victim leaves. The strap is sometimes made from discarded X-ray film. (Snopes.com, Hoax-Slayer.com, Brama.com)