DailyDirt: ATMs Are Ripe For Picking...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Thieves are getting more clever about stealing money from ATMs. It used to be that people mostly just had to worry about getting robbed while getting cash at an ATM. In 1998, Joseph Zingher, a Chicago businessman, even patented a "reverse PIN system" called SafetyPIN that would alert police when a cardholder at an ATM entered their PIN in reverse. The idea was that if someone was being forced to withdraw money at an ATM, they could silently alert the police with this "panic code." Unfortunately for Zingher, he was never able to convince the banking industry to adopt his SafetyPIN system. Now, people have to worry about ATM card skimming and other high-tech theft methods. Here are a few examples of some recent ATM theft methods. If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: atm, crime, criminals, fraud, robbery, schemes, skimming, theft, urban legend


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2013 @ 5:11pm

    "patented a "reverse PIN system" called SafetyPIN that would alert police when a cardholder at an ATM entered their PIN in reverse."

    A patent was issued for this?
    - checking -
    Walter Hunt is ... aah, wrong safety pin.
    hmmm, sadly yes. (U.S. Patent 5,731,575)
    Another in a long list of bad patents

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2013 @ 5:17pm

    wow.

    http://www.google.com/patents/US5731575

    Now I wonder if I can patent different kinds of duress... and corner the market on torture.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2013 @ 6:55pm

    my pin's a palindrome

    the cops will come every time i use the atm.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    MAC, 28 May 2013 @ 6:58pm

    Where to put your money

    Matresses still work...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 28 May 2013 @ 9:27pm

    Bitcoin.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Kevin (profile), 29 May 2013 @ 7:42am

    The cheap way out

    It is cheaper for banks to pay out stolen money as appose to the cost of implementing full proof security measures.
    The bottom line always wins.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Joe Zingher, 7 Aug 2013 @ 6:30am

    ATM Crime Cover up

    Home invasions and carjackings usually precede forced ATM withdrawals. This link is to an article about a very specific crime pattern called the "Express Kidnapping" which is basically an abduction and forced ATM withdrawal. It explains the details of how the crime pattern plays out, how to expose the data and most importantly, the details of how political corruption keeps the pattern from being tracked by the police. If you or someone you know was the victim of such a crime, read this and share it with everyone you know. Then send it to your local newspaper, news station, banker and legislator. Get them to investigate it. This applies worldwide, not just in the US. http://atmsafetypin.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/8/

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.