Man used MP3 player to hack ATMs

[wraggster]

A man in Manchester, England has been convicted of using an MP3 player to hack cash machines. Maxwell Parsons, 41, spent £200,000 of other people's money after using the machine to read card details.

Parsons plugged his MP3 player into the back of free standing cash machines and was able to use it to read data about customers' cards. That data could then be used to 'clone' cards and use them for bogus purchases.

Free-standing machines are typically found in shops and bars, and they allowed Parsons to plug his machine into the back of them in a way that would be impossible in wall mounted dispensers.

The MP3 player recorded customer details as they were transmitted over phone lines to the bank. Tones were read as they were transmitted and used to clone cards.

The case was heard at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester. Parsons was sentenced to 32 months in prison for the scam. Though £200,000 was spent on the cards, police said they believed that Parsons himself only earned £14,000 through it.

Police uncovered the scam almost by accident when they stopped Parsons for making an illegal u-turn in a car in London. They found a fake bank card in his possession and searched his home in Manchester, where they found the evidence with which to prosecute.

He denied the charges of fraud at first but eventually admitted to possessing equipment to make a false instrument, deception and unlawful interception of a public telecommunication transmission. He is believed to have had accomplices.

[mad-brian]

Wow a mp3 player? I want one but that is some serious stuff as I use them machines all the time and now I have to keep a look out for stupid mp3 playes stuck to the back of them

[kando]

lol he might as well have cut the telephone cord and spliced in his own line...i didnt realize atm's were so damn easy to crack :X

[steve-b]

Yeah I agree Kando. When I read it I thought 'why has nobody thought of that before'

I always thought those stand alone units were dodgy

[Junixx]

Wow...you don't hear that every day

[mikebeaver]

So now, not only do you get ripped off by the machine charging £2 to take your money out, you run the risk of having your details nicked by an MP3 player, f*!k that, cash for me now, all the way.

[Shilo]

LMAO I wounder what kind of MP3 player he had?