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Counterfeit machine

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(@trewmte)
Posts: 1877
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

Just learned from an army buddy of mine who gave me a heads up about this fraud.

"Police say someone had their bank accounts emptied after they paid a taxi driver with a debit card. They had wanted to pay with their credit card, but taxi driver asked for another method because he didn’t want to pay the 4% visa fee. Police advise that whenever you are asked to use a debit card instead of credit card for whatever reason, enter the wrong PIN. If it is a counterfeit machine it will pretend to process the payment and produce a receipt. Whereas an authentic machine will reject the PIN and request a “try again” message. Help spread the word, as the police state this type of fraud is becoming increasingly prevalent."

 
Posted : 18/12/2019 3:03 pm
(@rich2005)
Posts: 536
Honorable Member
 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wrong-pin-stop-debitcard-theft/ wink

 
Posted : 19/12/2019 8:13 am
(@trewmte)
Posts: 1877
Noble Member
Topic starter
 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wrong-pin-stop-debitcard-theft/ wink

Thanks Rich2005 -useful link. I didn't know about this scam until I was told about it recently.

A contact in US law enforcement also gave some useful advice. "And once you put the wrong pin in and the driver thanks you for taking a ride, make sure to document everything about cab/driver because you just caught a bad guy."

 
Posted : 19/12/2019 9:32 am
jaclaz
(@jaclaz)
Posts: 5133
Illustrious Member
 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wrong-pin-stop-debitcard-theft/ wink

Thanks Rich2005 -useful link. I didn't know about this scam until I was told about it recently.

A contact in US law enforcement also gave some useful advice. "And once you put the wrong pin in and the driver thanks you for taking a ride, make sure to document everything about cab/driver because you just caught a bad guy."

It is NOT a scam, or it is a NON EXISTING scam, or IF it is a scam, it is an undocumented, vague and rare one.

It is just some FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt).

At least here, the distinction should be clear.

The whole point of a skimmer is to capture BOTH the card data AND the RIGHT pin in a COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT manner, i.e. if you input the wrong pin, the wrong information is forwarded to the card company and the payment is refused, if you provide a correct pin, the transaction succeeds AND the (hypothetical) taxi driver will have the data and the right pin.

And of course, even on snopes the part about manipulating the machine to see if any loose parts come off is "pure bullshit" and will result in (percentage approximated)

1) 97.20% Nothing
2) 2.79% You break the machine and you have to pay for the damage
3) 0.01% You find a skimmer (and conversely one of the very few skimmer fraudsters so stupid as to not be able to place the skimmer firmly on their device [1])

jaclaz

[1] please note how - unlike placing a skimmer on a ATM or similar where you have limited time and your actions are generally speaking video recorded, you have all the time in the world (and even more) to place a skimmer on a card reader/POS in your possession.

 
Posted : 19/12/2019 7:43 pm
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