Subway Rider Spots Crafty Credit Card Skimmer

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Larry Hellenberg, of Manhattan, buys a MetroCard at the Union Square subway station, Wednesday, March 25, 2009 in New York. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is voting Wednesday on fare increases that would raise the cost of a single ride on New York City buses and subways to $2.50. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Image: Mary Altaffer/Associated Press

By Lance Ulanoff2014-04-11 12:44:32 -0400

An eagle-eyed New York City subway rider has spotted and removed what turned out to be a rather sophisticated credit card skimming system from the front of a MetroCard vending machine.

Skimmer after being removed from MVM

According to New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) City Transit, an unidentified rider discovered the device at New York's 59th Street Columbus Circle subway station late Thursday. It consisted of a credit card skimmer placed over the vending machine's official card reader and — here's the ingenious part — a credit card camera situated just above the vending machine.

That camera was actually hidden inside a tiny, two-outlet power adapter. There was a tiny hole in its base for the camera.

Apparently, the camera was activated whenever an unsuspecting MTA customer inserted or removed their card. That meant the thieves would have both the scanned card info and any details about the card (and person) they can glean from the over-the-head photo. The camera was powered by a large battery pack hidden on top of the vending machine.

The customer who spotted the skimmer removed it immediately and delivered it to the station agent.

It's unclear how long the device, which was on the southbound side of the station, was in use, or if the thieves were regularly checking it for new card data. At time of writing, the MTA was checking all MetroCard vending machines (there are 468 stations in New York City) for additional devices.

In the meantime, the MTA reminded MetroCard customers to be vigilant when they use machines and look for anything amiss. Those who bought tickets via credit card at the Columbus Circle station will also want to check their card statements for unusual activity.

You can see the whole mind-blowing setup, in photos that the MTA released on Friday, below. Whomever that anonymous rider is, he or she has the thanks of a grateful city.

Skimmer after being removed from MetroCard vending machine.

Pin hole at bottom of plug adapter mounted to cable channel located above MetroCard vending machine contains camera.

Battery pack resting on top of cable channel with wire going to camera

Inside the skimming device that was removed by customer

Battery pack with wire going to camera inside view after being removed from mounting area

Battery pack resting on top of cable channel with wire going to camera

Topics: credit cards, scammers, skimmer, subway, U.S., US & World