U.S. Secret Service Warns Of New ATM Skimming Scheme

The U.S. Secret Service is publicizing a recent ATM skimming technique that involves drilling a hole in the ATM and using a combination magnet and medical devices to gain customer information, reports Krebs on Security. The news is based on a non-public alert distributed to financial institutions. It details this new process of skimming which takes days to implement. First, a fairly large hole is made so thieves can insert a skimmer that attaches via a magnet. The hole is covered by a metal plate with the bank logo to look official. A few days afterward, when a thief can be sure no internal alarm was triggered by the drilling (at least this is the current reasoning why thieves are waiting), the perpetrator returns, adding a small pinhole camera to the PIN pad, hidden by a false fascia, that records the PIN entry.