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PRINTCRIME IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Sep. 24th, 2011 09:34 amITEM: Four men in South Texas are accused of committing $400,000 worth of fraud using an ATM card skimmer that they made using a 3D printer.
The details are pretty interesting. ATM card skimmers – which criminals stick over an ATM card slot to steal card data – have to be designed just right to look like they’re supposed to be part of the ATM machine. They’re also expensive – a skimmer kit can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000.
Then someone in the gang heard about 3D printing, and – since professional 3D printing companies won’t let you print something like a card skimmer – they allegedly used proceeds from previous skimming scams to buy a 3D printer and make their own skimmers.
Desktop 3D printers aren’t cheap either, with prices starting at $10,000 or so. On the other hand, it’s cheaper and more efficient to buy one printer to make, say, 20 perfectly designed and duplicated card skimmers than it is to buy 20 new skimmers. And 3D printers are getting cheaper all the time.
The good news is that the gang still got caught, but apparently that’s more due to the gang being infiltrated by undercover police than people spotting the card skimmers.
Anyway, stuff like this fascinates the SF nerd in me – criminals printing tools to commit crimes with. Hopefully it won’t lead to some silly politicians demanding legislation that consumer 3D printers be banned or licensed.
But it probably will.
Fit to print,
This is dF
The details are pretty interesting. ATM card skimmers – which criminals stick over an ATM card slot to steal card data – have to be designed just right to look like they’re supposed to be part of the ATM machine. They’re also expensive – a skimmer kit can cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000.
Then someone in the gang heard about 3D printing, and – since professional 3D printing companies won’t let you print something like a card skimmer – they allegedly used proceeds from previous skimming scams to buy a 3D printer and make their own skimmers.
Desktop 3D printers aren’t cheap either, with prices starting at $10,000 or so. On the other hand, it’s cheaper and more efficient to buy one printer to make, say, 20 perfectly designed and duplicated card skimmers than it is to buy 20 new skimmers. And 3D printers are getting cheaper all the time.
The good news is that the gang still got caught, but apparently that’s more due to the gang being infiltrated by undercover police than people spotting the card skimmers.
Anyway, stuff like this fascinates the SF nerd in me – criminals printing tools to commit crimes with. Hopefully it won’t lead to some silly politicians demanding legislation that consumer 3D printers be banned or licensed.
But it probably will.
Fit to print,
This is dF
