The scams (and fraud) always evolve very quickly, ready to circumvent the safety and protection systems put in place by institutions and citizens. The same technological progress underlying the safeguard standards that allow the use of cards and current accounts every day, it can be exploited by the hands of fraudsters, who have recently refined a dangerous technique. The objective, however, always remains the same: steal money from other people’s bank accounts, withdrawing them conveniently after discovering the Pin code of unsuspecting victims.
The mechanism doesn’t even change that much, all efforts are focused on automatic withdrawal machines, which have been teeming with bad guys since their introduction. The new tools developed by some criminalshowever, makes these scams even more efficient, quick and easy for scammers and insidious for account holders.
Another pillar of fraud also remains, namely the importance of prevention. Discovering the problem in time, reporting the crime and finding those responsible is already difficult, not to mention that the perpetrators must then be brought to justice and even then there is no certainty of recovering the lost money. Better to protect your money from the beginning and limit the damage at this point.
An incredible new method used by scammers
When speaking commonly about this type of misdeeds, we always use the word “scam”, even if this incredible new method developed by some criminals would seem more specifically to be a flourish. For the victim little changes, except that in the latter case he does not have any kind of contact with the perpetrator of the crime. This clearly does not mean that it is less dangerous, it certainly is not for the savings in the account, also because this innovative fraud (it must be recognized) already seems quite widespread and does not in any case exclude a more in-depth interaction with the unfortunate ones.
In fact, researchers from theUniversity of Glasgowpersonally involved in the development of the technologies in question and well aware of the damage they can do in the wrong hands. As anticipated, everything revolves around the moment of withdrawal from the ATM and possibly by payment machines. In general, all circumstances in which the is inserted are at risk Pin code through a keypadbecause this cutting-edge method is based on the oldest trick in the world: reconstructing the Pin code come on keys pressed.
The problem is that now to achieve this result, fraudsters can equip themselves with effective means, with the possibility of error reduced to a minimum, which allow them to save time and people, maximizing crimes and profits. To identify which keys have been pressed on keypads, in particular, scammers are increasingly using thermal imaging cameras. A well-known instrument, which allows you to detect and record temperature changes. The thermal camera allows you to distinguish the keys touched by the account holder, because they are hotter than the others.
It might seem like an inefficient means, but to optimize it, criminals have also equipped themselves with programs based onartificial intelligence. The latter allows you to select the keys and above all identify thecorrect order of the digits depending on the temperature differences (the first number of the combination is the least hot among those that have been pressed, and so on). An automated process so as to be carried out quickly and much more precisely than could be done independently.
Applied within 20 seconds from the insertion of the Pin this method even reaches the86% effective according to the researchers, dropping to 76% after 30 seconds. The risk is however significant, also considering the large number of victims. A mechanism easily associated with theft, card cloning and online scams.
To best defend yourself, experts therefore recommend: wait a few seconds more before moving away and preferring payments if possible contactless. Furthermore, another piece of advice that is always valid is to alert the authorities in case of suspicions or apparently anomalous devices.
