A series of tweets from the Greater Manchester Police’s Stockport West account has identified the rigged cash machine with an iPod nano in place, as well as a plastic false front.

The iPod Nano features a small video camera (the first iPod Nano camera is capable of recording VGA video at 30fps), which the thieves were attempting to use to capture unsuspecting people’s private card details as they entered them into the machine.

Plastic fronts such as the one pictured can be used to trap cards inside the machine, allowing the fraudsters to move in and retrieve them once the owner has given up and left.

The Greater Manchester police department were quite disparaging about this particular scam, describing it as ‘not the best attempt [they] have seen’.

In this case the iPod Nano was quite prominently placed on the machine in a makeshift manner, as the police illustrated:

Other attempts to steal or duplicate cards and card details – also referred to as ‘skimming’ – have been much more sophisticated, with microscopic cameras or magnetic stip-reading machines that can wirelessly transmit card data.

It is recommended to always check a cash machine for any signs of tampering before using it, and to remember to cover your PIN with your free hand as you enter it.


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