Needs "2016" in the title.<p>Past discussion: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8327676" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8327676</a>
A truly fascinating read. This made me chuckle:<p>> audio skimmers allow fraudsters to sell lucrative service contracts along with their theft devices. The vendor of this skimmer kit advertises “full support after purchase,” and “easy installation (10-15 seconds).” But the catch with this skimmer is that the price tag is misleading. That’s because the audio files recorded by the device are encrypted. The Mp3 files are useless unless you also purchase the skimmer maker’s decryption service, which decodes the audio files into a digital format that can be encoded onto counterfeit ATM cards
I'll never understand why their attack against skimmers was to put a giant molded piece of plastic over the slot which doesn't even look like its attached to the rest of the machine anyway and can easily be removed of sheathed with a skimmer.<p>Surely the correct attack would be to make the slot as flush and minimal as possible without indentation so to hide a skimmer the entire front of the machine would need to be faked.
This is ancient and is one of the core staples of Krebs' journalism. If you're only reading it now you're in for a treat with the rest of his work.
I realize the logic is criminals go where the money is but crime is just so weird.<p>I mean unless it's a one-shot deal, sooner or later you are going to be caught and then end up with consequences for everything.<p>Yeah I know, not deep thinkers but still, this is way more effort than smash'n'grab car windows in the parking lot, they have to think out a little in the future with that level of commitment.