Wow! That's way to easy and not noticeable. I haven't used a ATM in years and with tools like this to steal your private information, I'll never use another ATM.
We just need to abandon "magnetic strips" and allow ONLY chip technology. This problem would be solved in that one simple step. Don't even talk to me about costs. We spend more cleaning up the mess from the ancient magnetic strip protocol then requiring the removal of magnetic technology.
The way technology is going at the present time, someone will figure out how to steal information from the chip. Just give them time, it will happen.
First they'll need to break the encryption. In other areas (remember the USA is years late to the party) only online issues have ever presented themselves. That is operator error not a cracked chip. What would be ANY logical reason to delay chip only technology if you really care about security?
At first glance it seems an obvious question , glib even .... But thinking further on it only raises more questions . Why this irrational delay ? ... apathy , ignorance , losses too low to matter , cost of changing too high , general indifference ?? Who is currently carrying the relentless losses , and why do they continue ? And perhaps more importantly , who is underwriting the whole show ? So who benefits by actively maintaining magnetic stripe cards with no chip ? Or as lawyers are fond of saying ... "Cui bono ? " . I don't have the answers BTW ; it took me a while just to get the questions right
In order to maintain security it's necessary to respond to vulnerabilities and raise the bar. Magnetic strip technology is clearly compromised. Chip & PIN is the way forward.
All of the above. Until recently I believe the losses were just considered the cost of doing business, but that is changing. Look at what happened with the Target hack; that was perceived as sufficiently threatening to motivate the company to switch to Chip & PIN in about a year.
Well my small vote doesn't matter too much. If I were in charge in the USA and ONLY my vote counted (lets say I was President) I would instruct the ACH (clearing house) that ONLY chip transactions can be processed. Give a two month advance notice, meaning effective Feb 1 no chip means a merchant CANNOT process credit through the system. The decision needs to be removed for MY security. I have had to personally get two cards replaced when merchants were hacked. I did everything right, but they let me down without consequence to them. It was my time and hassle, and that is wrong!
We did that in Oz some years back. Then the Big Two went and made us an offer (Pay Wave/Pass) they knew we were too greedy to refuse. It wasn't hard. Thieves just got themselves RFID units and discovered they work at distances greater than one meter... As did the legitimate readers, taking money from the wrong cards. MasterCard and Visa contactless can be disabled, but you need to know where to cut the antenna leads without compromising the chip. Neither manufacturer makes RFID-free cards for use in Oz. Apparently we need the technology.
If there were not a handful of services, which still require cash, I would not even bother. I go to ATM once every 2-3 months.
Its also prevalent at gas stations when you use a card to pay the bill upfront. Check your bank statement for any suspicious charges and get them canceled.
My personal counter measure is to get a "text alert" every single time any of my accounts is ever used. I thought it would get annoying, but it really isn't. The ringer for that text is silent on my smartphone and if I am busy I'll scan the texts later in the day. Usually I am sitting where I can view the text immediately. After all if I have my cards in my pocket I should know if they are being used. LOL!
I do this too; pretty simple. If everyone setup email and/or text alerts it would really choke off the fraudulent activity. And while we're at it let's require 2FA (two factor authentication)
Re: ATM Insert Skimmers: A Closer Look Just don't look too closely: "Man trapped in Texas cash machine sends 'help me' notes A Texas man who found himself trapped inside a cash machine slipped "help me" notes through the receipt slot..." http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40589631
Insert Skimmer + Camera Cover PIN Stealer March 10, 2019 https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/03/insert-skimmer-camera-cover-pin-stealer/