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I actually found a similar one today at my bank![1] Thanks to reporting by Brian Krebs and others, I'm pretty tuned in to anything suspicious. This was on the A

by jonah 10y ago

I actually found a similar one today at my bank![1] Thanks to reporting by Brian Krebs and others, I'm pretty tuned in to anything suspicious. This was on the ATM I use most frequently so I immediately noticed the translucent green card receptacle was shinier than usual. Sure enough, it was a flexible plastic cap over the real slot. The PIN camera was the typical fake bezel with pinhole. I notified the branch manager and he immediately deactivated the machine and called their security team and the police. I didn't hang around to see their response, but happily they were very thankful and took it seriously. [1] http://imgur.com/a/KGoBM http://imgur.com/a/KGoBM

seanp2k2 10y ago
Sounds like a good course of action for getting the appropriate attention on the issue (the bank obviously doesn't want their customers getting robbed electronically) without wasting your own time dealing with police or putting yourself at risk of them thinking you did it. How did you find the branch manager?
- SolarNet 10y ago
  A lot of ATMs are on the outside face of a bank branch.
  - jonah 10y ago
    This one was exactly there. I had also dealt with the manager previously setting up business accounts and what not.
lighttower 10y ago
I can't tell where the camera is from your pictures. Where is it?
- brokenmachine 10y ago
  There's a little pinhole in the top-right of the money-release slot.
  - lighttower 10y ago
    How did it get power and storage? The money release slot was modified?
    - jonah 10y ago
      Here are a few more angles: https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j It was fairly thick - maybe 1/2" - so had plenty space for an SD card, battery, etc. I don't think they leave them on the ATM for a very long time before retrieval so it wouldn't need a huge battery. I'm going to stop by the bank tomorrow to find out what happened with it.
shostack 10y ago
So, I'm always paranoid about finding these, and whenever I enter a keypad I cover my hands so as to hide my entries from any cameras, and then wiggle any keyplate or credit card slot to find things like you found. Would you say that grabbing the receptacle and trying to move it briefly would have made it obvious it was a cover? Or did you really need to put some force behind it and pry it off? I'm curious how effective my efforts may be from the standpoint of "general ATM security" and whether they would actually protect me from anything.
- jonah 10y ago
  It was a medium-density (vinyl?) rubber material. Just grabbing it, it was clear it wasn't supposed to be there. Also lower-quality construction than the real part under it. I first checked for a keypad overlay before noticing the camera. Its bezel was pretty loose when pulled on. Probably just double-sided tape. Here are a few more angles: https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j
  - shostack 10y ago
    Thanks for sharing. Sounds like my current strategy would have protected my PIN and likely detected the fake.

by jonah 10y ago

seanp2k2 10y ago

Sounds like a good course of action for getting the appropriate attention on the issue (the bank obviously doesn't want their customers getting robbed electronically) without wasting your own time dealing with police or putting yourself at risk of them thinking you did it. How did you find the branch manager?

SolarNet 10y ago
A lot of ATMs are on the outside face of a bank branch.
- jonah 10y ago
  This one was exactly there. I had also dealt with the manager previously setting up business accounts and what not.

lighttower 10y ago

I can't tell where the camera is from your pictures. Where is it?

brokenmachine 10y ago
There's a little pinhole in the top-right of the money-release slot.
- lighttower 10y ago
  How did it get power and storage? The money release slot was modified?
  - jonah 10y ago
    Here are a few more angles: https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j It was fairly thick - maybe 1/2" - so had plenty space for an SD card, battery, etc. I don't think they leave them on the ATM for a very long time before retrieval so it wouldn't need a huge battery. I'm going to stop by the bank tomorrow to find out what happened with it.

shostack 10y ago

So, I'm always paranoid about finding these, and whenever I enter a keypad I cover my hands so as to hide my entries from any cameras, and then wiggle any keyplate or credit card slot to find things like you found. Would you say that grabbing the receptacle and trying to move it briefly would have made it obvious it was a cover? Or did you really need to put some force behind it and pry it off? I'm curious how effective my efforts may be from the standpoint of "general ATM security" and whether they would actually protect me from anything.

jonah 10y ago
It was a medium-density (vinyl?) rubber material. Just grabbing it, it was clear it wasn't supposed to be there. Also lower-quality construction than the real part under it. I first checked for a keypad overlay before noticing the camera. Its bezel was pretty loose when pulled on. Probably just double-sided tape. Here are a few more angles: https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j https://imgur.com/a/IQR4j
- shostack 10y ago
  Thanks for sharing. Sounds like my current strategy would have protected my PIN and likely detected the fake.