Bank fraudster gets away with £7.5m after release from jail

A quite remarkable story that boggles the mind on so many different levels.

I researched the earlier news item to get the whole picture.

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/maxwell-parsons-fugitive-mastermind-fraudster-7099806?

Feb 15, 2007

He secretly attached portable MP3 players at the back of freestanding ATMs in bars, bingo halls and bowling alleys so he could illegally tap into telephone lines used by customers during transactions.

A freestanding ATM with an accessible data transmission point ?

Basically you can't hack a Uk bank's computer system but, if you have a soft entry point, you've allowed a back door. Also, when you interrupt data transmission the system would normally log you out, as your home pc does, but let's not think about that.

As bank details and pin numbers were punched in, data was recorded onto Parsons' MP3 players as it was transmitted down phone lines. He then used computer technology to "translate" the tones from the transactions and used the stolen data to clone new credit cards.

The stolen data was used by accomplices to buy £200,000 worth of goods……. A similar fraud had been carried out in Malaysia by other conmen which was said to have crippled the country's banking system….. Parsons is starting a 32 month jail term…..

The potential risks were recognised to be so great that this reassuring statement was made

"The method used by Parsons was sophisticated, but the banking industry and ATM owners have now taken action to prevent this happening in the future.

Guess what ?

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/maxwell-parsons-fugitive-mastermind-fraudster-7099806?

May 09, 2014
'Mastermind' fraudster who netted up to £7.5m from banks is jailed... if he is caught

Who saw that coming ? It seems he learned something from his previous experience that the banks didn't.

No other fraud like it has been detected elsewhere ever before or since. He created, tested and developed a computer programme and masterminded its execution.

His criminal record indicates otherwise and, even more incredibly.

‘Moriarty’ Maxwell Parsons, 48, [who] went on the run after he was allowed access to his passport during his Manchester Crown Court trial in December …..

So, they caught him twice and actually let him go the second time after giving him bail and his passport.

Unbelievable - but true.

Of course, as intrinsically insecure as a free-standing ATM with accessible data port may sound, in actual fact every shop and garage is filled with similarly vulnerable machines - namely POS card readers.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/05/point-of-sale-skimmers-robbed-at-the-register/

Point-of-Sale Skimmers: Robbed at the Register

Garages are a favourite site for compromised machines, presumably because there is greater scope for the criminal to obtain unobserved access. There is also a natural tendency to believe that using a reader must be secure, but obviously it isn't.

Taking a 'hit' of £7.5 million will perhaps encourage the bank(s) to make their systems more secure because the man and his technology are still out there and if he ever runs short of money, he can make a fortune selling it to others.