NEW YORK—Crooks aren’t just turning more of their attention toward ATM skimming as a means to steal card data as EMV takes hold in the U.S., they are getting better at it.
KrebsOnSecurity reported that more criminals are using “insert skimmers” that are inserted deep into a machine’s card acceptance slot and are difficult to detect, a topic CUToday.info has reported on extensively. But Krebs reports that some of the new insert skimmers are now infrared capable.
“New evidence suggests that at least some of these insert skimmers — which record card data and store it on a tiny embedded flash drive — are equipped with technology allowing them to transmit stolen card data wirelessly via infrared, the same communications technology that powers a TV remote control,” KrebsOnSecurity stated.
In one alleged instance, skimmers used the hidden device to record time-stamped videos of ATM users entering their PINs and to receive card data recorded and transmitted by the insert skimmer, Krebs noted.
As CUToday.info reported here, GTE Financial in Tampa, Fla., has invested in new ATMs that defend against skimming devices by detecting and preventing the devices from being inserted into the cash machine.