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Cash point Scam

11:41 / 19.08.04

Ey up all, bit of a convulted tale for you all re. a distressing scam that happened to Kit Kat Club last night, in the hope that none of you fall for the same thing. I met her last night on our way to a gig. She was a little distressed as she'd just found out her bank account had been emptied. We went to a pub, called her bank (about as much help as a chocolate fireguard, as she couldn't recall her password as she doesn't use 'phone banking) and ran through various scenarios - direct debits forgotten, student loans bizarreness, that kind of thing. None fitted the size of the amount that had gone missing.

She recalled that at the cashpoint last night, the guy in front of her had seemed a little bit dodgy - hadn't got any money out and had seemed to hang around nearby a bit. He'd crossed the road with her, and she'd thought no more about it. She'd also noticed that the cash point seemed a bit odd looking, but had gone ahead and used it anyway, as you do.

Anyway, we swung past it on our way home, and it looked completely different. The night before there had been was a metal plate with a round bit in the middle where one inserted one's card. When we got there, it was normal looking again - just the platic "lip" sticking out where you stick in your card. There were also glue marks around this part of the machine. Someone had attached some kind of "card reader" to the machine.

On getting in we found out that the maximum withdrawals possible has been taken from her account that night and the next day from a couple of locations in North London. I'd heard rumours of this kind of thing but didn't know it was actually possible - while I hope that whoever responsible dies a lingering death from syphllicitc cancer, I've got to admit a grudging admiration for their technical ability.

So hopefully, all will be alright, hopefully we'll be able to claim for the money back no problemo. KKC is alright, was a little bit upset but is okay now. It's more - gah! - the fucking inconvenience as much as anything. Just an update for all of you that know us, and to tell you all to watch out for anything similar.

*goes off to prepare evil vicous hoodoo curse for scamming c***s

11:50 / 19.08.04

Fuck- that apparently happened quite recently outside one of my workplaces, in Haywards Heath, with one of the girls who works there. The little metal bit came off in her hand and she reported it to the police.

pointless and uncalled for

11:52 / 19.08.04

This is a common tale and not one that is an urban legend unfortunately. Hopefully you won't have a problem with getting the money back as the banks are aware of this as an issue.

Has KCC made a police report, this is usually required in instances of cash machine tampering.

11:54 / 19.08.04

This thing is becoming very common. All they need is a card scanner, and a little camera to video your PIN.

So, as Illmatic says: check around the card-reader slot. Anything protruding, no matter how secure it looks, if there's any chance it's not a physical part of the machine (and most usually don't have anything protruding), don't use it. Also, I sometimes (usually in Victoria station, given I'm pretty sure that the last time I was ripped off, it was Waterloo) swipe my hand across the top of the recessed ATM - where the light is. That's where digital cameras to copy your PIN tend to hide. If anything feels weird, or the light looks odd: don't use it.

It takes anyone about £400 and moderately no cunning to be able to pinch card numbers and PINs all day...

Hope it all sorts out OK, Kit-Cat, and also that it doesn't happen to anyone else here. It's a right PITA more than anything else.

11:54 / 19.08.04

Yeah, we did it last night. Hopefully, all will be okay. i'd heard a rumour or two of this sort of thing but it's still not a scam that seems to be widely publicised.

11:59 / 19.08.04

yep - this ain't nice - I've been actively on the look out for 'anything funny' on cash points for a while now... I haven't seen anything yet, which means there has been nothing to be seen i hope rather than I am about to have by bank account emptied... probably remaining vigilant the best policy for the future...

pointless and uncalled for

12:00 / 19.08.04

I've run into tales of this on a regular basis. They even had warning notices up in the HSBC in Islington because it was happening too often.

Depends who feeds into your inbox I suppose.

Haus of Mystery

12:06 / 19.08.04

Fuck me. It's all a bit Tony Scott innit?

Hattie's Kitchen

12:12 / 19.08.04

I've had my card scammed but not in this particular way. You should have no trouble getting the money back, the banks are usually quick to pay up when this sort of thing happens.

12:24 / 19.08.04

I think it must be becoming more common, I've always noticed a few machines displaying a message warning about things that don't look quite right.

Sorry to hear about the cash, but yeah you'll get the cash back without a doubt.

Haus of Mystery

12:28 / 19.08.04

Always happens to people who really can't afford it, eh? Never the rich fuckers.

12:34 / 19.08.04

rich fuckers rarely use cashpoints...

12:35 / 19.08.04

really? What do they do for cash? everyone needs cash surely? .. unless they're the Queen. Bet she couldn't spot a dodgy cash point.

pointless and uncalled for

12:41 / 19.08.04

Rich fuckers shop at places that don't take cash.

12:46 / 19.08.04

well ....yeah. sure. What if they want to buy chewing gum? a pint?
sorry, just being obtuse, I'll shut up and do some work. In my never-ending quest to become a rich fucker.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

13:21 / 19.08.04

I'd always been told the "Lebanese Loop" was just an urban myth- but, as with so many of them (snuff movies, etc) it always got me thinking "well, surely if somebody's thought of the idea, someone's BOUND to actually be doing it in real life". Unfortunately I was right to think so.

That sucks, KCC- but yeah, you should be able to get the cash back.

13:25 / 19.08.04

Rich people have 'people' to get their milk and chewing gum for them - don't you want to have 'people' too?

pointless and uncalled for

13:32 / 19.08.04

Now, now, now.

We don't call them "people" sleaze, we call them staff.

14:16 / 19.08.04

For those that don't have people to handle cash apparently the other thing to watch out for is leaflet holders attached to the cashpoint as these are often used to camoulage the camera used to obtain your pin number.
However the most common, and easiest, way of obtaining card details is to bribe a waiter to clone your card when he takes it away to be authorised and you sit there finishing your coffee.

14:19 / 19.08.04

the moral of this story is clearly not to have coffee, or at least to employ some 'people' to have coffee for you.

14:59 / 19.08.04

Or hire goons to follow the waiter back to the credit card machine ensuring they cannot steal your details.

16:22 / 19.08.04

Sorry Kitters, that sounds horrid.

Goodness Gracious Meme

16:33 / 19.08.04

It does. Am sure, you'll get the money back, hope yr not feeling too rubbish.

Oh, and good thread, Ill. Friend had his account emptied a few years ago, and we manageed to figure out that it was most likely a dodgy travel agent copying his details...

18:17 / 19.08.04

What a horrible, horrible thing, and, as somebody has quite rightly said, this kind of shit invariably happens to those who can't afford it, and when they can least afford it.

However, I don't mean to sound insensitive, but, as someone to whom this has never happened, surely these card readers are of such a size as to look out of place and, by extension, suspicious? No, I'm not defending the utter bastards that did/do this, I'm just a little bemused at how they manage to get away with it so - apparently - easily.

19:10 / 19.08.04

surely these card readers are of such a size as to look out of place and, by extension, suspicious

Take a look at the wide variety of cash machine models out there. It's not surprising that people don't pick up on odd differences considering the difference in styles used. My bank has three cash points, and they are all different.

04:43 / 20.08.04

I saw one in the newspaper that looked like a flat white plastic moulding with pictures of bank cards printed on. Just like the sort of kipple and retrotrash you expect to see on an ATM. Actually, I heard someone modified the EFTPOS device in a shop to record the PIN along with the card number- that's all they'd need to empty your account.
They'd fucking do it, too, one of my regular customers back at King's Cross, an old blind guy who'd tell you his PIN so you could pay for his shopping, got his account emptied by one of the local shops, the pricks.

18:33 / 20.08.04

Hello chaps, thanks for all the sympathy - much appreciated. Especially after all the ghastly bank staff (not the police, who have been most helpful) who have left me feeling as though I was completely at fault for the whole thing...

The inconvenience is annoying, but hopefully only temporary; there's not even a great deal of point my being annoyed by not being able to use my account until a new card turns up, since... well, since there's nothing in it...

For info: I felt as if something was a bit funny, but thought I must be imagining it. The ATM, I thought, looked old-fashioned, but that was all. It's an older machine anyway, and the card reader that had been attached blended in well with it. The LED underneath the card slot was still showing as well, I remember noticing it. It was a plain grey panel with a protruding hemisphere, in the middle of which was the card slot. Put card in, get card back, get money out. I think the moral is to listen to yourself when you feel that something is peculiar.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

18:44 / 20.08.04

Jesus, Cat, that CAN'T be the moral... otherwise paranoid fucks like me would never do ANYTHING...

Remember, though, much as you CAN get your cash back, don't be too surprised by the bank being absolute wankers- that's what they do. (Don't, however, punch your bank manager. A friend of mine did that, and the bank REALLY weren't happy about it.)

20:42 / 20.08.04

*raises hand*

So, who else has been suspicious of their ATM since reading this thread*

Whale... Whale... Fish!

21:13 / 20.08.04

Strangely enough I was talking to my Dad about this sort of thing and we came to the conclusion that the safest way to withdraw cash is cashback at a big supermarket on the basis that they are often more secure than cash machines.

Sorry to hear about the evilness...