MP3 player steals £200,000 from cash machines

Posted on 20 Nov 2006 at 12:54

A Manchester man has been convicted of fraud after he used an MP3 player to download bank card details from a cash machine.

Maxwell Parsons, 41, plugged the unspecified player in to the back of free-standing machines and then recorded information as it was sent over phone lines to the bank. He then used the copied date to produce cloned cards.

Parsons was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

Police discovered the scam after they stopped Parsons for making an illegal u-turn while driving in London. They found a cloned card and a subsequent search of his home turned up further evidence, including more counterfeit cards. Having initially denied the charges, Parsons later admitted to possessing equipment to make a false instrument, deception and unlawful interception of a public telecommunication transmission.

Parsons is thought to have made about £14,000, while the remainder of the £200,000 that was stolen was shared among accomplices. No further prosecutions have yet been brought.

The police stressed that the fraud took place before the introduction of chip-and pin.

'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,' said Det Insp Alan Shepherd, of Greater Manchester Police Economic Crime Unit. 'Also the introduction of chip and pin has dramatically reduced fraud from counterfeit cards.'

Author: Simon Aughton

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