I think youll find anything electrical emits some sort of pollution. Look at mobile phones!!

Its a genuine thread trying to give you an early warning to be carefull at ATMs.

Obviously we would much rather talk rollox about "wheres the strangest place you awoke"...............

Mmmm....Thoughtful debate going on here!:P

In all seriousness though, it is becoming a little scary for one that tries to be careful by shredding all credit card receipts...

We did have an episode once of some nice little scallies going through the bins and looking for card receipts.

What a nice world we live in....:o

Known as EMI and RFI (Electromagnetic Interference, Radio Frequency Interference).
Cash machines are screened to try to stop this. I'm surprised a detector can pick up sufficient info from 20metres (60 feet, or over 4 car lengths away).
Maybe the detector is located where the camera is and only the processor/storage is located that distance away...


BIG difference here is that they are intended to be transmitters/receivers, and therefore have to have some form of an aerial...


Sorry, got a bit techie there ;). It is well worth knowing, so thanks for the heads-up.

Cheers,
John.

andyb,
Many thanks for you taking time out and advise us of these issues,i for one will have a good look around the atm that i use.As a matter of interest does the bank have any responsibility for checking out the atm?
I was amazed the other day i went into a local pub for a meal with my partner got some drinks and asked if they could be put on the "tab" the barman then asked for my card at first i thought he was going to take a swipe but no he wanted to put the card it self behind the counter at this point i refused and he then called the land lord who advised me this was the pub's policy and if did not like it i should leave and i did.But in the jar was at least 10 cards from other punters, i could not believe that people are that daft or careless.
Sorry for going on but this guy really anoyned me by his attitude.:mad:

Soapbox in position:-
It's a genuine thread
It's a genuine thread
It's a genuine thread.

Now I've said it 3 times, does it make it a genuine thread? Not necessarily!.

Originally posted by andyb I think youll find anything electrical emits some sort of pollution.

Put your mid-eastern manufactured 6" desk fan next to your cathode ray monitor and see the interference.
Stick a magnet to the front of your telly and see the interference, or does David Jason really look that bad.

Precisely.
But all (and I mean purchased in the EU, p'raps other countries as well) equipment must now conform to standards which limit the amount of emi into the atmosphere.

I sit on the electrical side of the engineering fence and I've got to say that based on previous experience of specifying/supervising and hands on installation of ATM machines in establishments from Sainsburys to Bank of Scotland, I have never seen a microwave warning attached to the machines.
All machines are hard wired into comms and mains. No magnetron!

It's not a case of nah nah nee nah nah. If someone genuinely believes there to be a serious concern then let us all know. But it's all in the thread title: paranoia.
BTW Brazil nuts are radioactive.

I think the whole point of the thread was not to say there is somewhere to cook your eggs for free, more a heads up on a new way that you can get fleeced when using an ATM.

( It has long been possible to "read" information displayed on a Cathode Ray Tube from a distance of more than 20m, most decent security industry equipment suppliers could provide you with the necessary equipment. )

Anyhow... back to the point

There are a number of methods in use;

The original Lebanese Loop which makes you think your card had been swallowed by the machine whilst the scammer has been shoulder surfing to get your PIN - once you leave, he recovers your card, enters your PIN & empties your account.

The next one is the skimmer - a secondary card reader which is fixed over the card slot - this reads your card as it passes into the ATM. A small camera hidden above the keypad records your pin as you enter it. This information is then used to create a "ghost card"with your account details on & in conjunction with your PIN, your account is again emptied.

There is the fake ATM! This has been used to read cards & record account details & PINS entered intowhat appears to be a genuine ATM but when you put your card in, it comes up with
" temporarily unable to dispense cash " & gives you your card back. Again this info is used to create a ghost card. ( Only used in the US so far as far as I know )