Comments on: Sophisticated, 3D-Printed ATM Skimmer Appears in LA

By: Chris Norman

Chris Norman — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:06:04 +0000

We will not print card skimmers at Kraftwurx…but I will ask everyone…try pulling on the card reader with some effort. If its part of the machine it will not come off. If it is a skimmer, chances are it will come off relatively easy.

Grab it good and give it a tug and a twist. Then insert your card.

The worst ones are the black gas pumps. No cameras, easy access day and night.

By: KE

KE — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:05:53 +0000

Here’s a tip I use at the store frequently- because frequently someone stands too closely behind me. As I type my pin I use multiple fingers, and place fingers I do not type with on other keys as if I were pressing those numbers. It garbles my pin for onlookers because it’s hard to tell which fingers are typing. An easier way is to develop the habit of always covering one’s hand while one types.
I think, however, that this skimmer is fairly convincing, because ATMs continually change, and also because it’s new to us. If I were to design it, which I would not, I would use a phone.

By: JesseS

JesseS — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:30:39 +0000

@ Cathy,

Speaking as a sculptor, making something look convincingly aged is one of the simplest things to do.

By: Cathy

Cathy — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:03:35 +0000

The big clue for me would be the newness of the device. I glanced at the ATM at my bank yesterday. There are big dirty smudge marks where thousands of fingers have touched, and the area below where the card goes through has been scraped off revealing bare metal. They’d basically have to replace the entire front of the ATM unit to get something like this past me, or do some hardcore custom airbrushing to age it.