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Fake ATM doesn't last long at hacker meet
Computerworld ^ | August 2, 2009 | Robert McMillan

Posted on 08/04/2009 7:54:14 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat

Criminals running an ATM card-skimming scam made a big mistake this week: They tried to hit the Defcon hacker conference in Las Vegas.

As the conference was kicking off a few days ago, attendees noticed that an ATM placed in the Riviera Hotel, which plays host to the annual event, didn't quite look right, according to a senior conference organizer who identified himself only as Priest. "They looked at the screen where there would normally be a camera," he said. "It was a little bit too dark, so someone shined a flashlight in there and there was a PC."

The ATM looked like a working system, but when people would put their cards in the machine, it would scan their card information and record the PINs they entered. He didn't know how long the ATM had been at the Riviera.

(Excerpt) Read more at computerworld.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: crime; defcon; dumb; hacker
It's like a guy trying to hold up a gun store.
1 posted on 08/04/2009 7:54:15 AM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: antiRepublicrat

Vegas a few years two guys tried to rob a cop hangout bar.


2 posted on 08/04/2009 7:56:47 AM PDT by Dr. Ursus
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To: Dr. Ursus

ago-so much for proof reading.


3 posted on 08/04/2009 8:01:19 AM PDT by Dr. Ursus
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To: antiRepublicrat

It’s like trying to rob the donut shop during the cops’ lunch break.


4 posted on 08/04/2009 8:04:40 AM PDT by steve-b (Intelligent Design -- "A Wizard Did It")
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To: steve-b

LOL!


5 posted on 08/04/2009 8:07:22 AM PDT by bikerman (Buck Farack)
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To: antiRepublicrat
The criminals probably didn't realize that they were installing their ATM in a hotel that was soon going to be flooded with more than 8,000 security professionals, he added.

They were smart enough to place the machine in one of the few spots in the hotel where there was no security camera to catch them, Priest said. "It was literally right next to the hotel security entrance

6 posted on 08/04/2009 8:18:47 AM PDT by rawhide
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To: antiRepublicrat

Whoever runs security at that casino needs to get a pink slip. How exactly do criminals transport a bogus ATM into the site without detection?


7 posted on 08/04/2009 8:21:59 AM PDT by throwback
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To: throwback
"How exactly do criminals transport a bogus ATM in the site without detection"?

Probably it was easier to do than smuggling a tiny shoe bomb concealed in a heel into the casino.

Read Edgar Allen Poe's "The Purloined Letter". All the principals and policemen couldn't find the diminutive "stolen" letter in the apartment although they searched every nook and cranny countless times.

Turns out the letter was in plain view on top of the escritoire all the time.

No one ever thought any professional thief would leave it in such an open, obvious place.

Leni

8 posted on 08/04/2009 8:33:24 AM PDT by MinuteGal (Work Harder! Millions On Welfare Depend on You!)
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To: rdb3; Calvinist_Dark_Lord; GodGunsandGuts; CyberCowboy777; Salo; Bobsat; JosephW; ...

9 posted on 08/04/2009 8:39:32 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux -- The Ultimate Windows Service Pack)
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To: MinuteGal

Good point. I can never seem to find my car keys when they’re in my hand.


10 posted on 08/04/2009 9:16:47 AM PDT by throwback
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To: throwback

My glasses on top of my head


11 posted on 08/04/2009 10:43:37 AM PDT by reed13 (The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.")
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To: ShadowAce

Hilarious. I just got back from Vegas yesterday, and we ate at the Peppermill restaurant on Saturday, right next door to the Riviera. Some Defcon conventioneers had rented the lounge for a private party.

Freak doesn’t even begin to describe.


12 posted on 08/04/2009 9:10:35 PM PDT by bamahead (Avoid self-righteousness like the devil- nothing is so self-blinding. -- B.H. Liddell Hart)
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