ATMs Hacked Using MP3 Player

Maxwell Parsons, 41, was the central figure in a gang who used a rather interesting device to hack into ATMs: MP3 player.
Parsons and his gang members would use a MP3 player to record the noise, which is actually data, transmitted from free-standing ATMs. This is done by unplugging the phone line running from the machine and into a two-way adapter. The MP3 player was then plugged between the ATM and the phone socket to record the noise, which resembles the kind emitted by fax machines. The data was then deciphered into readable numbers using computer software.
The phone line running from the machine to an ordinary BT white socket was unplugged and a two-way adaptor inserted. The MP3 player was then placed between the ATM machine’s output cable and the phone socket.
The gang went on to clone credit cards with the stolen data, making £200,000 worth of purchases, and with £14,000 traced to Parsons.
Who would’ve thought a MP3 player is good for more than just music.
Parsons was jailed for 32 months after pleading guilty at Minshull Street Crown Court to deception and unlawful interception of a public telecommunications transmission.
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