Ready to bet on the price of gold? If you think it’s going to head upwards you might want to stop by your local Gold Bar dispensing ATM machine and make a withdrawal.

The Gold ATMs look like a standard ATM, standing at approximately 6 feet tall, but unlike your standard ATM with these machines you either insert your bank or credit card and purchase gold in 1 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram and 1 ounce units.

Okay so only 35 machines are expected in the U.S. by the end of 2010, but it shows how strong gold prices have become during the current economic climate.

Each ATM will be internet connected and will be updated with gold prices in ten minute increments, ensuring the latest gold prices are honored when you make your transaction.

Gold Dispensing ATM Machines Making Their Way To U.S. is a post from: The Inquisitr

I realize there are stupid criminals out there after all we see them on half hour TV shows all the time I think this one has to rank up there as far as being a dumb idea.

Much like a robber trying to rob a bar where off-duty cops like to hang, the idea of someone putting a fake ATM machine meant to steal people’s information at this hotel where this year’s Defcon conference was held doesn’t show much in the way of smarts. That didn’t deter someone though as the conference goers found out when they noticed the machine that some said just didn’t look right.

As the conference was kicking off a few days ago, attendees noticed that at ATM placed in the Riviera Hotel, which plays host to the annual event, didn’t quite look right, according to a senior conference organizer who identified himself only as Priest. "They looked at the screen where there would normally be a camera," he said. "It was a little bit too dark, so someone shined a flashlight in there and there was a PC."

The ATM looked like a working system, but when people would put their cards in the machine, it would scan their card information and record the PIN numbers they entered. He didn’t know how long the ATM had been at the Riviera.

Conference organizers notified local law enforcement who hauled away the machine on "Thursday or Friday," said Priest, who said he works as a "civil servant" in his day job.

Source: Computer World :: Fake ATM doesn’t last long at hacker meet

The idiots may not have realized they were putting the machine into a hotel that would soon be the temporary home to 8,000 security professionals but given this is Las Vegas one would hope that it would have been found out in short notice.

Fake ATM at Defcon … not the brightest idea is a post from: The Inquisitr

Back in November 8th of 2008 in a coordinated move low level cashers hit ATM machines in 49 cities world wide for a haul of $9 million. The way it was done apparently is that a single hacker or a hacking ring broke into the computer system of RBS WorldPay and duplicated or cloned people’s ATM cards. At the same time they also lifted the daily limits that are typically placed on all ATM cards. This way the cashers could go back time and time again hitting those same accounts.

The RBS Web site says that card holders will not be responsible for any unauthorized transactions. But there is fear that the hackers might have had access to sensitive information used in identity theft for a potential 1.5 million customers — including their including Social Security numbers.

"The number of machines that were accessed, the number of cities that were targeted, and the number of people that had to be involved in this is quite significant," Agent Rice said.

Investigators are hoping a break in the case may come from one of the cashers. The theory is they probably were recruited, paid a small fee to be solders in the scam, and might be likely to rat out the people who hired them.

There are millions of people out there these days with these payroll cards. RBS officials say they have sent out letters to anyone who might have been affected. They are also offering one-year credit protection for people whose Social Security number may have been jeopardized by this scam. However, the good news is that it doesn’t look like any identity theft has occurred yet.

So far, the FBI has no suspects and has made no arrests in this scam. An attorney in Atlanta has filed a class-action lawsuit against RBS WorldPay for allegedly failing to protect personal information.

Source: Fox 5

Video courtesy of Fox 5

[hat tip to Threat Level]

ATM break-in nets hacker $9M in one day [VIDEO] is a post from: The Inquisitr

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

It appears that back in late 2007 a Russian hacker breached the ATM server belonging to Houston based Cardtronics and monitored transactions from 7-Eleven cash machines long enough to capture thousands of account numbers and PINs. This information was then sent to people around the U.S. who burned the information onto blank mag-stripe cards and then used those cards to hit Citibank ATM machines on the New York area for about five months.

Citibank reported the breach to the FBI in February of this year at which point it was also learned that the U.S. Secret Service had been investigating a Russian by the name of Rakushchynets who they were able to tie to the Citibank heist. With the help of two previously captured cashers from the group The FBI were able to arrest two other members, Andrey Baranets and Aleksandr Desevoh.

Then in May Aleksandr Aleksiev was picked up during a stakeout while he was trying to withdraw money from a Citibank ATM. This was the same machine on the Upper East Side where $180,000 had been stolen previously.The majority of the money taken in by the group was funnelled back to Russia. While Citibank hasn’t commented on the breach they were quick to say that the Citibank customers whose accounts had been targetted wouldn’t be held responsible for fraudulent withdrawals.

Well isn’t that nice of them.

[via Kevin Paulsen - Threat Level]

Hackers take Citibank customers for $2 million is a post from: The Inquisitr