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Fuelling massive
fraud: Gangs hide adapted mobile phone video cameras under a false panel
on the front of ATM machine to record PIN numbers while at the same
time using another device to trap or clone bank cards
With its pin-hole camera, circuit board and miniature battery - this tiny gadget looks like a secret agent's spying device.
But in fact it is so common the majority of us carry the same thing around with us all day, every day.
MailOnline
can reveal today criminal gangs are adapting mobile phone video cameras
and hiding them in cash points to help empty bank accounts.
This device has been secretly helping to fuel a rise in the £55million-a-year card fraud industry in Britain.
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Covert:
While police advise potential victims to look out for anything
suspicious, they warn against taking devices away because there's a fair
chance these gangs could come after you to get them back
After being stripped from its phone housing, the camera is hidden under a false panel above an ATM keypad.
It
then secretly records unsuspecting customers as they tap in their
PIN while all the time being watched by thieves just metres away.
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Measuring about a foot long, the false
panels are carefully painted to match the appearance of the machine
have the word 'Cash' stamped on the front with a small hole in the
bottom for the camera
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Experts says the best way to beat fraudsters is always to protect your PIN by shielding your hand
If you do notice anything suspicious or if the ATM does swallow your card, the advice is to call your bank straightaway.
He
told MailOnline: 'Make sure you store your bank's 24-hour phone number
in your mobile phone, and if your card is retained by the cash machine,
or your money is not dispensed, immediately report the incident to your
bank while you are still nearby.'
A similar, but more sophisticated con, which is also used in conjunction with a mobile phone camera is known as card skimming.
Here,
an electronic device is fitted around the card slot to capture data
contained on the magnetic strip as it enters the ATM which is then
downloaded to a memory card contained within the device.
Counterfeits are then made up using any card with a magnetic strip such store cards or phone top-ups.
Armed
with those two, and with the customer having received their card back
and not believing anything is untoward, the criminals have carte blanche
to wreak havoc with your account.
How I discovered mobile camera fraud after an ATM swallowed my card and my friend ripped off the front of the cashpoint
By Simon Tomlinson
I was caught up in such a scam after a night out in east London last month.
After
putting my card in the slot and keying in my PIN (without covering it
up, I hasten to add), I waited for my cash, only to find the machine had
swallowed my card.
Noticing
something was amiss, my friend started pulling at a panel above the
keypad and after a few wiggles it duly came off in his hand.
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Big business: Fraud on lost or stolen
cards increased by three per cent to £29.2 million this year, while
counterfeit fraud (cards that are cloned) increased by four per cent to
£24.2million
Measuring
about a foot long, it had been carefully painted to match the
appearance of the machine and had the word 'Cash' stamped on the front
to match the lettering seen on most ATMS.
Underneath,
we found what appeared at first sight to be an elaborate purpose-built
piece of kit consisting of a circuit board, camera, wiring and a memory
card.
A small hole had been bored into the underside of the panel to give the camera a clear view of the keypad.
Bemused
and intrigued, we took it away with us while I phoned the bank to
cancel my card, giving them my address and certain elements of my
security password, all the time with the device close by.
Suddenly,
as we merrily discussed our new acquisition, it suddenly dawned on us
that it could be relaying our conversations back to the gang - or at
very least storing it on the memory card in our possession.
With
frequent looks over our shoulder, we made off in haste and ditched the
device before getting the bus home – to the address I had given in full
to the bank.
I slept with one eye open that night wondering if I might get paid a visit, but fortunately they didn't.
By
the taking the camera with me, I did, however, inadvertently prevent
large-scale fraud potentially to the tune of hundreds of pounds.
What
I didn't realise at the time was that within just a few seconds of
leaving the ATM, the fraudsters had swooped in to grab my card, which
had been trapped inside another false front over the card slot.
Known
as a 'Lebanese Loop', it is designed to prevent the card being returned
to the customer, thereby shutting the machine down.
But without knowing my PIN, they could only use the contactless element of my card.
Yet
despite having cancelled it within a few minutes, they were still able
to make two payments totalling around £40 from a nearby off licence in
time before the cancellation took effect.
ATM FRAUDSTERS JAILED OVER £2M 'ALADDIN'S CAVE' CARD SKIMMING CON
Highlighting
the industrial scale of these ATM cons, two fraudsters were jailed for a
total of six years last month for a scam which netted over £2million
worth of stolen card details from potentially thousands of victims.
Florin
Ardel, 25, and Ioan Flore, 33, were arrested after officers found an
‘Aladdin’s cave’ of card skimming equipment at an address in Southgate,
London.
Officers had followed Ardel back to the property after spotting a gang acting suspiciously around an ATM in Mayfair.
Ioan Flore (left) and Florin Ardel (right) were jailed for a total of six years over a £2m stolen bank card fraud
Ardel was then seen dumping gift cards bear four-digit numbers on the back into a rubbish bin outside.
When
officers searched the property, they found an array of card-skimming
devices, with side camera bars, false ATM fronts and memory devices.
A
forensic download of the computers found in excess of 4,800 unique
debit and credit card numbers, as well as specialist software used to
transfer the details onto blank cards for use in cash machines overseas.
The stolen card details had a value of £2.05million, based on the average amount stolen from a compromised card.
Ioan
Flore returned to the property during the search and was also arrested.
He was later forensically linked to the items seized from inside the
property.
Ardel
and Flore, both of Southgate, London, were sentenced to two years and
three months and three years and nine months in prison respectively.
DC
Martin Godsave , officer in the case from the DCPCU, said: 'These two
criminals were committing card fraud on an industrial scale.
‘We
discovered what can only be described as an Aladdin's cave of card
skimming equipment, with thousands of potential victims.’
