High-tech bank robbers phone it in

According to News.com, an ordinary bank robber can now steal hundreds of account numbers from ATMs without so much as lifting a finger.

"Through a method called skimming, a digital copy of your debit card is made at a compromised ATM, and then the data is sent over SMS to awaiting criminals.

Skimming is the physical use of secondary readers to capture the magnetic tracks on the backs of credit and debit cards. On ATMs, skimmers and secondary keypads are used to capture account numbers and PINs. Often, the ATM transaction goes through, and the customer doesn't realize that the account has been compromised until later."

Read full article.

emily | 8:50 AM | News, Buzz |
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2008/10/021408.htm