EFTPOS scam costs Australians $80m

EFTPOS scam costs Australians $80m

www.abc.net.au

Victorian Police believe international crime syndicates are bribing shop workers in return for access to EFTPOS terminals as part of an elaborate scam.

They believe criminals have stolen as much as $80 million from Australian bank accounts over the past year.

They say syndicate members have tampered with EFTPOS terminals at up to 50 businesses across the state and more than 100 nationally.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www .heraldsun.com.au
www.theage.com.au
money.ninemsn.com.au

Police say syndicate members have tampered with EFTPOS terminals at up to 50 businesses across the state.

These crime gangs are not only sophisticated, but also highly skilled and motivated.

They are not to be underestimated at all costs, because they have the brains to carry out this kind of financial fraud on a statewide. let alone a nationwide scale.

The crime gang members usually come from offshore, like Asia or Eastern Europe. They then use laptops and spy cams bought from local spy stores and bribe local shop workers into complicity.

Cameras are covertly installed on the ceiling and chips are covertly embedded into PIN machines to record the account details.

If you are suspicious, look above your head when going out to a restaurant, a gas station or a convenience store and check the PIN machines to see if any card-skimming chips are embedded inside.

Try breaking open their PIN machine to see if a card-skimming chip is inside. Better yet, pay cash instead (except in situations where cash in untransferable).

The reason why Australia has been picked as a soft target is because it is the last country to introduce smartcards. Prior to that, traditional magnetic strip cards were in everyday use, and they were indeed vulnerable to card skimming.

You could even hide a card skimmer inside a card machine.

So ladies and gentlemen on ATS, try to keep your cards being skimmed and your bank accounts safe from being withdrawn without your knowledge.

www.abc.net.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

hi ironfalcon
i watched a show a couple of weeks ago about the work of australian customs and it showed a scumbag from the uk (my gaff) attempting to smuggle card skimmers into the country inside an electronic keyboard. bang to rights and do your bird you punk! he had enough kit to squeeze thousands weekly. i guess he won't be surfing off aussie shores anytime soon!
btw another tip i would recommend is not to allow anyone to take your card away for process as some scum will have a reader near the legit machine. even if i am skint, i will usually stomp into town and use the banks own machine making sure no-one is loitering inside the adjacent phone box with a scanner or anyone nearby looking suspicious . furthermore i check for grafted readers that are designed to discreetly fit over the legit machines facade.
regards fakedirt

Hm, not long ago in Adelaide it was Indian migrants working in service stations who were stealing account details and emptying peoples accounts, now this.

I'm not too worried though, I have a family friend who owns a few servos so I always fill up at his places anyway. To be honest I haven't used my card in about a month, straight cash.

There was a point were I didn't have any cash on me at all, I simply used my card for everything. Got me thinking.