Fear the Reaper: Characterization and Fast Detection of Card Skimmers
summary
Study analyzes 35 unique skimmers from a 16-month NYPD bolo dataset and finds 69% are overlays or deep-inserts with 1.5 mm contact read heads and metallic heads. Paper builds a PCB sensor that counts voltage spikes as read heads pass, placing traces over ISO tracks. The resulting Skim Reaper detector is prototyped and enclosed, tested five times on each of ten real devices and reports 100% detection on NYPD-supplied devices. Deployment expands to multiple agencies.
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chapters (25)
- 0:00Introduction
- 0:21Story Time
- 1:29What is a Card Skimmer
- 2:14How to Avoid Skimmers
- 3:04What is a bolo
- 3:38Skimmer taxonomy
- 4:14Pointofsale overlays
- 5:27Card reader
- 5:37Deep insert skimmer
- 6:36Overlay PIN pad skimmer
- 7:03ATM skimmers
- 8:20DMV
- 8:52Wiretap
- 9:09Internal
- 9:46Bluetooth
- 10:04Installing a Skimmer
- 10:22Overview
- 13:06Prototype
- 14:25Voltage spikes
- 14:52Printed PCBs
- 15:19Testing
- 15:35Tape
- 16:28Summary
- 16:54RealWorld Impact
- 17:31Interview
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