Anyone ever been hit with a hacker skim job from an ATM machine? Here is an interesting article in yesterdays Thailand news, on ATM skims occurring at a famous location (near the US embassy?) in Bangkok. bangkok.coconuts.co/2013/11/07/hackers-jack-bangkok-atms-siphon-serious-cash If it happens to you, it is for sure an education, especially IF you get to go back and examine it still in place, mining away at OPM (other peoples money). Well, take a look at my attached photos. In February 2012 I made an ATM withdrawal near a friends condo in Thailand, at a machine connected to the exterior of a 7-11 store at the intersection of Jomtien Beach Road and Soi 17 (alley, south of Coconut Beach Condos), in Jomtien Beach, Thailand. Here is the Google Maps link, showing the ATM and 7-11 store location and street view, which I later shared with my Bank (to no apparent avail or interest): goo.gl/maps/z2Ke4 Subsequently within 24 hours of my using the ATM, there were 8 ATM withdrawals posted against my account rapidly, originating from 2 locations in Kiev, Ukraine. They got over $2,000 (fish-on!) out of my (apparently) overdraft-protected auxiliary bank account (I use for travel cash), which hackers successfully maxed out the temp line-of credit on. I had previously notified the bank I would be travelling in ONLY Thailand and Cambodia... I did not discover these charges until about a week later, after which I notified my bank. After a few weeks I returned from travels from other places in Thailand, and I decided to go back to the hacked ATM and see what I could. Attached are some pictures, that anyone with their perfect hindsight glasses attached firmly on thier ass can say, why didnt you see THAT??? Well, even though I had enjoyed a few brews across the street on the beach (excuse #1), I admit I usually inspect the FACE of the ATM machines and where it accepts the card reader, however I had not really considered external wires going in ABOVE the machine should trigger alarms. Now I do, and you should too. However in Thailand just FYI (here comes excuse #2), you become inured and conditioned to accept bewildering arrays of external dangling dangerous looking wires, straggling all over - they are commonplace everywhere. And you think I got suckered? How about when I told my friend who lived there about it, and warned him of the general location of the ATM at the 7-11 near his apartment, and he FORGOT about it until HE got hit with the same Ukranian ATM skim job about a month later! (It was still in operation and Mining away!!) Take a look at these shots that I was rather furtive about taking, as the speed and skill of the rip-off, and the rapid international transmission to Ukrainian banks, spoke of an organized efficiency. In Thailand, there is an openly notorious, broad-based and ruthless community of Russian and Slavic folks, that you had best not get tangled up with. As anyone can see from the Google Maps street view, the signage surrounding this location, and the apartments directly above the 7-11 are obviously in a Slavic oriented micro-community. So I did not want to become a conspicuous figure when I went back and took these pictures, especially when I discovered that the device was obviously still in operation and mining away at peoples accounts! In spite of this being specifically identified and reported to the authorities over two weeks prior (back in the US). Lord knows how many hundreds (thousands?) of other people had been hit, either before or since. It would not surprise me to learn that they are still tapped into this same ATM, almost 2 years later. If anyone goes down to Jomtien Beach Road, soi 17, go ahead and check out this ATM and see if that wire is still in the upper right corner and tapped into the power/lead to the overhead surveillance camera, will ya?
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 21:03:53 +0000
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