An ATM skimmer, deconstructed.

You've probably heard the warnings about ATM skimmers, the little devices that can be put on an ATM to read your mag stripe and capture your account info.

This blog in the Netherlands has taken an ATM skimmer apart and shows in detail how it's put together. I thought I'd be able to spot a fake, but it's scary how real it looks. AT the ATM, look for anything out of the ordinary, such as mismatched paint, scratches, and ill-fitting components. If it looks like your cousin Larry made it in his garage, then it's suspicious. Luckily, ATMs serviced by banks have little chance of being hacked this way. Amazing that this one seems to be located on a street.

Click on each picture for a clear, larger version of the image.

Here's a picture of the device removed from the ATM:

and this is a closeup of the faceplate:






There's a tiny camera mounted inside of it. The aperture is where the man's middle finger is. While it swaps your magnetic stripe info, it also captures your fingers keying in your PIN.



See the camera lens hole?








And here's a shot of the ATM with the fake piece in place. Scary, isn't it? If you can read Dutch, head over to the original blog, which you can find here, as well as photos of the gadget's guts.