STRATEGIC PARTNERS
'If there's something to be manipulated or taken advantage of, you know there are people out there who are finessing a way to do it,' said one police officer. by Kevin Gibson, contributing writer
March 10, 2002
If "The Raven" is an accurate measuring stick, ATM users have plenty to be worried about from scam artists who hope to con them out of their money.
The Raven apparently is a New York criminal whose brazen Web site features instructions for other would-be con artists on how to steal from ATM users' accounts. He offers several ideas and welcomes proven ideas from other criminals, apparently to create a sort of con artists' network.
He wrote: "New York City (My Home!) is the leader in ATM con jobs. Altogether, about 2,000 Citibank users were victimized by ATM con artists in one year's time [year not specified] for a tune of $495,000!! So I'm going to spread some light on ... how these cons are pulled off." (The site listed two phone numbers where the Raven could be reached--one is no longer in service, the other is for a plastics company.)
The Raven is not alone in his ingenuity. Early this year in New York police arrested a man who had been stealing PINs at ATM machines in Manhattan, then tricking his victims into reinserting their card under the guise of "clearing the machine." Once he or she did so, the culprit would punch in the stolen PIN and withdraw large amounts of money.
The culprit apparently targeted senior citizens, said Jo-ann Polise, program director for Association for a Better New York (ABNY). "They're very trusting, and if someone doesn't look threatening they don't feel threatened."
A scam in Massachusetts that was brought to an end just last month resulted in the arrests of two men who had been targeting young women. The two men engineered a racket in 10 Greater Boston towns by jamming ATMs and later retrieving stuck money cards with a fingernail file and superglue.
The two men allegedly would sympathize with their victims, memorize the users' PINs as they tried to extract their cards, then retrieve the cards after the victims left. If the thieves couldn't obtain the PIN, they later would, posing as a bank official or ATM security officer, and call the customer to get the number.
Area police say the scams date back to June and the culprits stole at least $10,000 from 12 different victims, prompting the surrounding communities to form the ATM Card Scam Task Force.
Wellesley, Mass., police Det. Mike Price told the Boston Globe, "They usually concentrated on unsuspecting females and it's scary to think about all the college kids arriving in the area this week who would have been ripe for these guys."
There are so many different possible scams, it's likely they all haven't even been discovered or used yet. The Associated Press reported Aug. 31 on a scam in Manchester, Conn., in which thieves stole thousands of dollars by setting up a bogus ATM in a mall and making counterfeit bank cards from the information entered into it.
The machine, which was set up at Buckland Hills Mall, recorded account numbers and PINs, enabling the thieves to make the cards. They made about $3,000 in withdrawals and vainly attempted many more.
Police have no suspects in the case and believe the bogus machine was obtained through the used ATM market. The responsible parties sabotaged other ATMs in the mall to force customers to use theirs.
A method detailed by the Raven reportedly netted one con artist $92,000 several years ago. The scheme was executed in Citibank lobbies with more than one ATM and a service phone. The well-dressed and articulate con man posed as an ATM user and stood between two ATMs, pretending to be talking to the bank service personnel over the service phone. After a user inserted his card into the slot, the con man told him that the machine was not working.
The user would withdraw his card, leaving the ATM activated (this was a feature of Citibank machines at the time), then the con man would watch for the user's PIN at the adjacent ATM.
In his make-believe conversation with the bank, the con man acted like he was receiving instructions. To complete the theft, he told the victim that bank personnel thought the card had "locked up" or "jammed" the ATM, and insertion was required to "unjam" the ATM and verify that the user's card was still valid. After the user left, the con man used the information to withdraw the maximum daily amount from the user's account.
Another con carried out in both New York and Boston got a man convicted of defrauding ATM accounts of $150,000, according to the Raven's web site. The man duped more than 300 ATM users into believing he was a bank security officer who needed assistance in apprehending a dishonest bank employee.
The users were asked to leave their bank cards under the locked door of the bank. The con man would then fish the cards out, then have an accomplice call the cardholder the next morning saying that the employee had been caught and "Detective Hacker" would like to thank them. But, the caller would add, since the dishonest employee did come in contact with the card, the bank would have to give the customer a new PIN. The accomplice would then ask for the old PIN to verify.
As Polise pointed out, avoiding most scams involves simple common sense. "A bank is not going to use you to help nab a bad guy," she said. "They will use their own employee or they will reach out to the police and use an undercover police officer. Get out of that hollywood mode and stop thinking you're going to save the day."
Other simple methods include shielding the keypad while punching in your PIN, memorizing your PIN rather than keeping it written on or near your card, checking bank statements carefully to look for unauthorized purchases and making sure your ATM card is signed.
Polise said ABNY has teamed with the New York City Police Department to organize public meetings to discuss crime patterns and current methods used by criminals, such as the one that victimized elderly ATM users. That particular crime spree was halted with the help of the Interlock program, which gave local security officers for Citibank firsthand access to local police, speeding up the arrival of officers when an ATM scam occurred. Citibank set up central locations at which security officers can watch local ATM sites on video monitors. When they spot what appears to be an ATM scam unfolding, they call local police directly via walkie-talkie to report the crime.
The suspect in the Manhattan ATM crime spree was apprehended in New York's 13th precinct. Polise said the suspect didn't even have time to complete his crime and get to the door before police were on him, and after reviewing other videos police determined it was the same man who'd been operating throughout the east side of Manhattan--not that people should believe ATM fraud is primarily a New York problem.
"If there's something to be manipulated or taken advantage of, you know there are people out there who are finessing a way to do it," Polise said. "They could live in Podunk or in mid-town Manhattan. A con is a con is a con."
Obviously, the Raven, whoever he may be, knows this well. So may John Williams, whose Web site advertises a book titled, "Automatic Teller Machines" that could prove helpful to a would-be criminal. The book contains detailed instructions on "everything from physically yanking the ATM out to spoofing it through its phone lines. Includes internal photos, with close-up of the door-locking mechanism, circuit cards, cash boxes, etc.," according to the site.
The advertisement is punctuated with this chilling anti-endorsement: "A major banking newsletter says of this manual, '..could cost our industry millions of dollars.'"
But Williams insists the manual, while controversial, isn't published to aid criminals. It's about his belief in freedom of the press and "the concept that there should never be any secret knowledge when it comes to technology, with the exception of national security," he said via e-mail.
"Further, by describing vulnerabilities to high-tech systems, we inform and notify readers to take countermeasures to protect themselves, and the industry to provide better security to protect consumers."
Related article: How to avoid ATM scams
>Source material:
Attorney Gen., Texas
ATM tech book
Age of Reason--All About Scams
