Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

After the Vegas DEFCON ATM debacle where hackers hacked hackers by setting up a fake ATM in front of the facilities security office, I needed to see how stupid easy it was to buy and ATM and just set it up anywhere. So my search began.

I started looking on e-bay and found plenty of new and used ATMs ranging from $500-2500 but quickly determined I didn’t want to pay $300 for shipping. Next was Craigslist, where anyone can rent out an apartment, buy a boat, get an erotic massage and buy an ATM.

I quickly found an ad from a bar north of Boston. They were selling pool tables, Budweiser neon signs and an ATM. I took my hacker with me and met Bob. Bob rented a room above the bar and was doing the deed for the owner. The bar was an old relic that was closing and liquidating its grungy assets. The ATM was sitting right next to the bar covered in 5 years of beer. Thank heavens they were smart enough to cover the keypad in clear plastic. While Bob was explaining the ATMs operation and providing us its history, he farted.

Needless to say I wanted to unbolt this thing as quickly as possible, get out of there and douse myself head to toe in pure alcohol hand sanitizer. After my hacker played with the manual, got it working and determined it was worth the financial risk, we loaded it on my trailer, paid $750 (down from a grand) and brought it home and put it in my garage.

There’s something about having an ATM in your garage that makes for a restless night of sleep, kind of like the next day is Christmas. The next day, like 5 am, I used an entire bottle of Windex and a whole roll of paper towels and went through 4 pairs of rubber gloves and gave this thing an enema.

My hacker comes over to my garage, manual in hand, all giggly, like hackers sometimes do and says “Watch this”. He punches the master codes to access the machines data on a device called an eprom and hundreds of credit and debit card numbers just start falling all over the floor.

A few days later a TV producer friend of mine came over and we devised an evil plan to scam millions of $$ from unsuspecting suckers and then spend the rest of our lives hopping from island to island and buying a villa in Sicily. But my wife said “NO”.

Here’s the first of a few upcoming videos of what happened next. I’ll share more of my ATM adventures as they occur. There’s a lot more to this story, so stay tuned!I’ll talk more about my ATM adventures as they roll out.

You can protect yourself from these types of scams by paying attention to your statements. Refute unauthorized transactions within 60 days. Consider never using a debit card again, since credit cards are safer. When using an ATM, pay close attention to details, and look for anything that seems out of place. If your card gets stuck in the machine or you notice anything odd about the appearance of the machine, such as wires, double sided tape, error messages, a missing security camera, or the machine seems unusually old and run down, don’t use it. Don’t use just any ATM. Instead, look for ATMs in more secure locations. Cover your pin!! And invest in Intelius Identity Theft Protection and Prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. “Disclosures”

Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker rolling an ATM around on Fox