Card Fishing ATM Scam | Travel Guide For Your Finances

by Luke December 27, 2006

A reader recently alerted me to these pictures of the debit card fishing ATM scam that is reportedly being done in Europe. The following images were taken by a surveillance camera at an Italian Bank. According to the date stamp this scam has been around a while, but the pictures serve as a good reminder to be observant and level headed whenever you’re using ATMs. These pictures were originally posted on Italian website, but with a little help from Google Translator and some common sense, here’s how the scam works:

Would-be thief appears to be making a normal ATM transaction:

He is really rigging the ATM to steal the next debit card inserted into the machine:

Accomplice warns person rigging machine that the victim is coming:

Unsuspecting victim enters debit or credit card into ATM:

ATM card is stuck in the machine:

The thief in the first photo re-enters the bank identifying himself as a “good sumaritano:”

The thief convinces the victim to re-enter his PIN explaining that maybe the ATM is new. The thief watches carefully while the victim enters the PIN again. Of course, this does not release the card:

After several tries the exasperated customer leaves the bank thinking that the ATM has eaten his card:

The thief now extracts the stolen card from the machine and withdraws the maximum amount with the newly acquired PIN:

Here’s how the thief managed to extract the debit card.

A piece of black film is used to trap the card as it is entered into the ATM. The black color blends with the color of the card and the ATM:

To prevent the ATM from eating the entire piece of film, the ends are glued and bent to better bond with the ATM:

Once all the parts are in place and the film is entered into the machine, it is almost impossible to tell that a trap has been set:

The film has special folds and cuts in it to prevent the card from being ejected from the ATM:

After the victim has left, the thief can now easily extract the credit or debit card from the ATM by ungluing the ends of the film:

This scam is hard to detect, but here are a couple security measures you can take when using ATMs:

Inspect the ATM carefully before inserting a card.
Use a busy ATM. If the ATM worked for the person in front of you, odds are good it will work for you too. Because of the nature of this scam, ATMs in busy locations are unlikely to be rigged.
NEVER type your PIN in front of anybody — even if they’re in uniform or genuinely trying to help. There’s no reason for anybody other than yourself to know your PIN.
If your card gets stuck, look for the glued ends to pull it out yourself. Otherwise don’t leave the machine until you’ve notified the bank or reported your card stolen. If this is impossible, report your card stolen ASAP. Often times when an ATM eats a card, it’s because the machine has malfunctioned. But if you’re in a foreign country and are never returning to that particular ATM or bank, you have nothing to lose to reporting the card lost or stolen. Better safe than sorry.

Comments (7)

7 Comments to "Card Fishing ATM Scam"

on 29 Sep 2007 at 3:44 am Posted by: Devray

Hi,
It’s great that you have shared it with us. In India, such thing not yet happened. But we experience different story here:

A thief enters and operates the ATM immediately after the user left the counter. The machine can hold its memory up to 15 seconds after the card out, so the thief starts his operation within that time slot.

Anyway, thanks a lot.
on 06 May 2008 at 11:34 am Posted by: Apara-ti CARD-ul de bancomatele rele! | iLL's mentaL

[...] ati avut necazuri. – verificati (vizual) bancomatele. Cititorul de carduri poate avea o capcana. Un plastic negru care retine cardul, lipit cu adeziv. Mai pot aparea masti de o culoare asemanatoare cu [...]
on 14 May 2008 at 7:45 am Posted by: nicole

this isn’t from italy (note — the film data is all in *english*) it’s from trinidad. but still very relevant — beware of the “lebanese loop”
on 02 Aug 2008 at 5:54 am Posted by: tejaswini

its really helpful for ATM users…it wouldn’t take long time before fishing enters India….now i can use my card safely…
thank a lot….
on 22 Dec 2008 at 10:36 am Posted by: david

Something similar (and more sinister) just happened to me. The thief installs a device on the card machines on gas station pumps. The customer puts his card in and the fake machine gets the card info (number, PIN number, etc.) and can then make a counterfeit card with the information.

So, I actually still had my card but the thief had a copy and was able to steal $300 a day (the max for cash) until I saw what was happening through my online access. Because it was the weekend, there was no one to speak with at my bank (its a credit union, not a major bank) I went ahead and withdrew the max every day at midnight on Saturday and Sunday to thwart the thief.
on 03 Feb 2009 at 8:16 am Posted by: Ajay

A very thanks for this great information !!!!!!!!!!
I will carefull from now and also will inform to ATM users to prevent such type of scandal.
on 14 Aug 2009 at 4:03 am Posted by: Alex

I got caught out like this once. After that I learnt my lesson. I prevented it once from happening to me again by telling the guy to go away in a very very rude manner. And then i spotted it was happening and gave chase to a guy who had just skimmed an old lady

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