How Fraudsters Can Work out Your PIN from the Heat Traces your Fingers leave on an ATMBy DANIEL BATES
Some 80 per cent of the time scientists were able to correctly identify the four-digit code using an infrared scanner on the ATM.
Even a full minute later the camera was able to show clearly which numbers had been pressed, giving a fraudster ample time to get what they needed.
Risk? Fraudsters using an infrared device can work out your PIN by the heat traces your fingers leave on a cash machine, researchers have found
All they would then need to do would be steal the person’s wallet and they could help themselves to their money.
The researchers said that using an infra red camera only told you the order 20 per cent of the time but that even then it was massively easier to work out because you knew the numbers.
The team from the University of California at San Diego built on previous research which used infrared cameras to work out safe combinations after workers had pressed the keys.
ATM blues: Fraudsters have over the years used a string of techniques to get the PIN numbers of people using cash machines
‘Essentially, if you pointed the camera directly at the metal keypad, it would show you the thermal fingerprint of you, the camera operator, rather than of the keypad itself,’ said Sarah Meiklejohn, another of the researchers.
‘However, we didn't push it, because the plastic keypad did work. It's possible that someone else could solve those issues.’
She added that another issue is the cost - a good quality infra red camera costs around £11,500 to buy new.
Fraudsters have over the years used a string of techniques to get the pin numbers of people using cash machines.
Among the most elaborate took place in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in which criminals put a fake ATM outside the front of a Tesco supermarket.
It included a ‘skimming’ device which allowed them to copy and read bank details and PINs while the machine paid out cash.
Other criminals have used tiny cameras in the ceiling to record people entering their pin numbers as they enter them in at the till.
The fraudsters then get the credit card details from the cashier and steal the person’s money.
Fraudsters can work out your PIN by the heat traces your fingers leave on a cash machine, researchers have found.
Some 80 per cent of the time scientists were able to correctly identify the four-digit code using an infrared scanner on the ATM.
Even a full minute later the camera was able to show clearly which numbers had been pressed, giving a fraudster ample time to get what they needed.
Risk? Fraudsters using an infrared device can work out your PIN by the heat traces your fingers leave on a cash machine, researchers have found
All they would then need to do would be steal the person’s wallet and they could help themselves to their money.
The researchers said that using an infra red camera only told you the order 20 per cent of the time but that even then it was massively easier to work out because you knew the numbers.
The team from the University of California at San Diego built on previous research which used infrared cameras to work out safe combinations after workers had pressed the keys.
They found that even if the camera was used a minute later, it still showed the right digits on the ATM around half the time.
Pictures released by the researchers showed a plastic number pad on a cash machine with red spots where the PIN had been entered.
‘With plastic keypads, we can reliably detect which buttons were pressed, but it is really difficult to determine the order,’ said Keaton Mowery, a doctoral student in computer science at UCSD.
Using an infrared camera, however would not work with a metal keypad.
Pictures released by the researchers showed a plastic number pad on a cash machine with red spots where the PIN had been entered.
‘With plastic keypads, we can reliably detect which buttons were pressed, but it is really difficult to determine the order,’ said Keaton Mowery, a doctoral student in computer science at UCSD.
Using an infrared camera, however would not work with a metal keypad.
ATM blues: Fraudsters have over the years used a string of techniques to get the PIN numbers of people using cash machines
‘Essentially, if you pointed the camera directly at the metal keypad, it would show you the thermal fingerprint of you, the camera operator, rather than of the keypad itself,’ said Sarah Meiklejohn, another of the researchers.
‘However, we didn't push it, because the plastic keypad did work. It's possible that someone else could solve those issues.’
She added that another issue is the cost - a good quality infra red camera costs around £11,500 to buy new.
Fraudsters have over the years used a string of techniques to get the pin numbers of people using cash machines.
Among the most elaborate took place in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in which criminals put a fake ATM outside the front of a Tesco supermarket.
It included a ‘skimming’ device which allowed them to copy and read bank details and PINs while the machine paid out cash.
Other criminals have used tiny cameras in the ceiling to record people entering their pin numbers as they enter them in at the till.
The fraudsters then get the credit card details from the cashier and steal the person’s money.
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