ATM fraud in Thailand

[Guest]

Here is the deal! G'f just went to bank, and found someone had withdrawn three separate withdrawls at the same ATM, from her account. She has never given her pin out, and always been in possesion of her ATM card. Bank says they can do nothing about it (Bangkok Bank).

 

She told her mother, who then said same thing had happened to two of her friends, one involving 100,000 baht. ::

 

Seems to be not that unusual there. Anyone else ever hear of problems there, surrounding this issue? Last, and largest withdrawl was 7,000 baht. She was at home with parents that day, and knows she had card in her possesion the whole time.

 

HT

[Guest]

As you know, such things really do not happen in Thailand, at least that is what some have told me.

 

Within the last week there was an article about a falang who got scammed pretty good. He claimed somebody made a copy of his debit card (not hard to do) and got his pin number probably from a hidden camera.

 

This is really nothing new. Some time ago, the Bangkok Post had an article where some ATM machines had an extra card reader inserted into them (some how) so as to capture people's credit card info. As for cameras, that is common also.

[cardinalblue]

That is why i still make cash deposits in person rather use the machines. Like who are they going to believe, me or the bank especially since the bank would be the one making the decision as to whether they received my deposit. Fox in a hen house?

 

My employer still pays me in cash as i would prefer an automatic deposit but we are talking about my employer, the thai government......

 

Cardinalblue

[Guest]

Hi,

 

>>>>This is really nothing new. Some time ago, the Bangkok Post had an article where some ATM machines had an extra card reader inserted into them (some how) so as to capture people's credit card info.<<<<

 

Yea. She thinks someone just was behind her, and copied her pin. I tried to explain a pin alone is no good, unless you have the card to go with it. To no avail... ::

 

HT

[torrenova]

If they have a reader in the ATM, then they can "shoulder surf" and get the PIN.

 

Not wanting to knock your girlfriend HT but a thief would have cleaned out the account, maxing the card each day. They would not make small withdrawals hoping not to be noticed.

 

That leaves computer fraud, an inside job or worse still, someone is lying.

[Guest]

Torrenova said "Not wanting to knock your girlfriend HT but a thief would have cleaned out the account, maxing the card each day. They would not make small withdrawals hoping not to be noticed."

 

Not neccessarily true. The falang that was mentioned recently in the newspaper only detected that money was short after a long period of time. The problem was - the thief was withdrawing small amounts from different banks. The falang, when he saw the amount deducted from his account each month, thought some of the charges were being lumped together or whatever, and never sat down and audited the account.

 

I wished I saved the article. It seemed like this went on over a span of 6 months or more and was something like 600,000 baht, if I remember right.

[Guest]

Hi torrenova,

 

>>>>>>If they have a reader in the ATM, then they can "shoulder surf" and get the PIN.

 

Not wanting to knock your girlfriend HT but a thief would have cleaned out the account, maxing the card each day. They would not make small withdrawals hoping not to be noticed.

 

That leaves computer fraud, an inside job or worse still, someone is lying. <<<<

 

I know. I even asked if her sister was home the same day. She was not. This really seems to be a ligit rip off. She went to see the bank president, who gave her all the details, as to when money was taken out. She can account for all the days.

 

My g/f never asks me for a penny. It's not a ploy on her part. It really happened. And according to her friends and family, is not a rare occurrence. That is why I am asking here.

 

HT

[shygye]

There are two ways it works. A Trojan ATM that does not work. It reads the card and stores the PIN punched in and then gives an error message and returns the card.

 

The other way is a slim card reader is inserted into the card slot of a real ATM. A small remote camera records the punched keys to obtain the PIN. Later the card reader is removed.

[Guest]

:: HIGH THAIED, the Bangkok police have warned people for at least a year that this stuff is going on.

 

[color:"red"] The following should help you: [/color]

 

From www.ATMMarketplace.com

 

[color:"blue"] ATM fraud on rise in UK [/color]

 

? 25 August 2003

 

LONDON -- The City of London Fraud Squad reported a sharp rise in so-called Lebanese loop fraud, in which thieves use devices to trap ATM users' cards in machines, over the past 18 months.

 

In many cases, the fraudsters also used miniature cameras to record victims' PINs rather than using the more old-fashioned -- and riskier -- "shoulder surfing" technique.

 

According to a report in the Times, detectives have also reported increasing incidents of thieves attaching skimming devices to banks? lobby entry swipe-card systems, enabling them to record and clone cards.

 

Richard Waight, detective sergeant of the City Fraud Squad?s Economic Crime Department, said, ?Criminals are taking advantage of increasingly sophisticated technology which saves them from the risk of actually having to shoulder surf victims.?

 

Waight said a significant number of trapping devices had been seized in London during the past few weeks, and officers had made a number of arrests involving Eastern European criminal gangs.

 

The Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS), which represents the banks on payment issues, has reported a 37 percent increase in ATM fraud in the past 12 months, rising from ฃ21.2 million (about $33.3 million U.S.) to ฃ29.1 million ($45.8 million U.S.)

 

Detective Chief Superintendent Ken Farrow, head of the City of London Fraud Squad, told the Times: ?Card-readers and small micro-cameras are easy for people to purchase, making it easier for criminals to get hold of the technology they need.?

 

He added, ?We are concerned about this increasing problem and are working with the banks to develop new technologies to fight it.?

[Guest]

Hi,

 

>>>>The other way is a slim card reader is inserted into the card slot of a real ATM. A small remote camera records the punched keys to obtain the PIN. Later the card reader is removed.<<<

 

Yea...but the whole idea is to need a ligit card, associated with a pin number, to make the whole thing work. So.....the slim card reader is the key? What is a "slim card reader?'

 

HT