Paulahmartin

-Sept. 9, 12:30 p.m. CT, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: Halfway down the southbound four-lane highway from Cancun to the ancient ruins in Tulum, traffic inexplicably slowed to a halt. There was some sort of checkpoint ahead by the Mexican Federal Police. I began to wonder whether it was a good idea to have brought along the ATM skimmer instead of leaving it in the hotel safe. If the cops searched my stuff, how could I explain having ultra-sophisticated Bluetooth ATM skimmer components in my backpack?

The above paragraph is an excerpt that I pulled from the body of Part II in this series of articles and video essays stemming from a recent four-day trip to Mexico. During that trip, I found at least 19 different ATMs that all apparently had been hacked from the inside and retrofitted with tiny, sophisticated devices that store and transmit stolen card data and PINs wirelessly.

In June 2015, I heard from a source at an ATM firm who wanted advice and help in reaching out to the right people about what he described as an ongoing ATM fraud campaign of unprecedented sophistication, organization and breadth. Given my focus on ATM skimming technology and innovations, I was immediately interested.

My source asked to have his name and that of his employer omitted from the story because he fears potential reprisals from the alleged organized criminal perpetrators of this scam. According to my source, several of his employer’s ATM installation and maintenance technicians in the Cancun area reported recently being approached by men with Eastern European accents, asking each tech if he would be interested in making more than 100 times his monthly salary just for providing direct, physical access to the inside of a single ATM that the technician served.

One of my source’s co-workers was later found to have accepted the bribes, which apparently had only grown larger and more aggressive after technicians in charge of specific, very busy ATMs declined an initial offer.

My source said his company fired the rogue employee who’d taken the bait, but that the employee’s actions had still been useful because experts were now able to examine the skimming technology first-hand. The company tested the hardware by installing it into ATMs that were not in service. When they turned the devices on, they discovered each component was beaconing out the same Bluetooth signal: “Free2Move.”

Turns out, Free2Move is the default name for a bluetooth beacon in a component made by a legitimate wireless communications company of the same name. I also located a sales thread in a dubious looking site that specializes in offering this technology in mini form for ATM PIN pads and card readers for $550 per component (although the site claims it won’t sell the products to scammers).

The Bluetooth circuit boards allegedly supplied by the Eastern Europeans who bribed my source’s technician were made to be discretely wired directly onto the electronic ATM circuit boards which independently serve the machine’s debit card reader and PIN pad.

Each of the bluetooth circuit boards are tiny — wafer thin and about 1 cm wide by 2 cm long. Each also comes with its own data storage device. Stolen card data can be retrieved from the bluetooth components wirelessly: The thief merely needs to be within a few meters of the compromised ATM to pull stolen card data and PINs off the devices, providing he has the secret key needed to access that bluetooth wireless connection.

Even if you knew the initial PIN code to connect to the Bluetooth wireless component on the ATM —the stolen data that is sent by the bluetooth components is encrypted. Decrypting that data requires a private key that ostensibly only the owners of this crimeware possess.

These are not your ordinary skimming devices. Most skimmers are detectable because they are designed to be affixed to the outside of the ATMs. But with direct, internal access to carefully targeted cash machines, the devices could sit for months or even years inside of compromised ATMs before being detected (depending in part on how quickly and smartly the thieves used or sold the stolen card numbers and PINs).

Not long after figuring out the scheme used by this skimmer, my source instructed his contacts in Cancun and the surrounding area to survey various ATMs in the region to see if any of these machines were emitting a Bluetooth signal called “Free2Move.” Sure enough, the area was blanketed with cash machines spitting out Free2Move signals.

Going to the cops would be useless at best, and potentially dangerous; Mexico’s police force is notoriously corrupt, and for all my source knew the skimmer scammers were paying for their own protection from the police.

Rather, he said he wanted to figure out a way to spot compromised ATMs where those systems were deployed across Mexico (but mainly in the areas popular with tourists from Europe and The United States).

When my source said he knew where I could obtain one of these skimmers in Mexico firsthand, I volunteered to scour the tourist areas in and around Cancun to look for ATMs spitting out the Free2Move bluetooth signal.

I’d worked especially hard the previous two months: So much so that July and August were record traffic months for KrebsOnSecurity, with several big breach stories bringing more than a million new readers to the site. It was time to schedule a quasi-vacation, and this was the perfect excuse. I had a huge pile of frequent flier miles burning a hole in my pocket, and I wasted no time in using those miles to book a hotel and flight to Cancun.

CANCUN

There are countless luxury hotels and resorts in Cancun, but it turned out that the very hotel I picked — the Marriott CasaMagna Hotel — had an ATM in its lobby that was beaconing the Free2Move signal! I had only just arrived and had potentially discovered my first compromised ATM.

View from the Marriott CasaMaga Hotel in Cancun.

However, I noticed with disappointment that for some reason all of my Apple devices — an iPhone 5, a late-model iPad, and my Macbook Pro — had trouble reliably detecting and holding the Free2Move signals from one of the two ATMs situated in the hotel lobby.

I decided that I needed a more reliable (and disposable) phone, so I hopped in the rental car for a quick jaunt down the road to the local TelCel store (TelCel is Mexico’s dominant mobile provider and a company owned by the world’s second-richest man — Carlos Slim). After perusing their phones, I selected a Huawei Android phone because — at around USD $117  — it was among the cheapest smartphones available in the store. Also, the phone came with plenty of call minutes and a semi-decent data allowance, so I could now avoid monstrous voice and data roaming charges for using my iPhone in Mexico.

Tourist attractions next to Plaza Caracol.

Nearby the TelCel store was Plaza Caracol — a mall adjacent to a huge tourist nightlife area that is boisterous and full of Americans and Brits on holiday. The car parked in the mall’s garage, I pulled out my new Huawei phone and turned on its bluetooth scanning application. The first ATM I found — a machine managed by ATM giant Cardtronics — quickly showed it was beaconing two Free2Move signals.

Returning to the Marriott hotel, I found that the two Free2Move bluetooth signals showed up consistently and reliably on my new phone’s screen after about 5 seconds of searching for nearby bluetooth connections. The compromised ATM in the hotel also was a Cardtronics system.

At this point, I went to the front desk, introduced myself and asked to speak to the person in charge of security at the CasaMagna. Before long, I was speaking with no fewer than six employees from the hotel, all of us seated around a small coffee table overlooking the crystal-blue ocean and the pool. I explained the situation and everyone seemed to be very concerned, serious, asking smart questions and nodding their heads.

A man who introduced himself as the hotel’s loss prevention manager disclosed that Marriott had recently received complaints from a number of guests at the hotel who saw fraud on their debit cards shortly after using their ATM cards at the hotel’s machine. The loss prevention guy said the company responsible for the ATM — Cardtronics — had already sent someone out to review the integrity of the machine, but that this technician could not find anything wrong.

[SIDE NOTE: That technician may have only inspected the exterior of the machine before giving it a clean bill of health. Another explanation is that the technician that was sent to find skimming devices didn’t report their presence because he was the one who installed them in the first place!]

That same day, I phoned Giovanni Locandro, senior vice president of North American business development at Cardtronics. He told me the company conducts periodic “sweeps” in Mexico to look for skimming devices on its machines and that it was in the process of doing one at the moment down there, although he didn’t acknowledge whether he was familiar with the exact scheme I was describing.

“We are doing another sweep as we speak down there,” Locandro said. “We do random sweeps, especially in tourist areas to check for those devices. But we haven’t heard of any cards being cloned. Any devices we receive we take those to our internal security folks, and then we contact the authorities.”

I couldn’t dissuade these young ladies and many others from using the compromised machine on my second evening at the hotel.

I showed the hotel folks the bluetooth beacons emanating from the ATMs in the lobby, and showed them how to conduct the same scans on their phones. Everyone roundly agreed that the technician had to be called again. But there were two ATMs in the lobby — one dispensing Mexican Pesos and another dispensing only dollars. How to know which ATM is compromised, they asked? Unplug them one by one, I replied, and you’ll see very quickly which cash machine is hacked because the bluetooth beacon would shut off.

Despite more head nods and a round of verbal agreement from the hotel staff that this was a good idea, to my surprise nobody at the hotel bothered to touch the machine for two more days. I watched countless people withdraw money from the hacked ATM; some of those I warned while in the lobby were appreciative and seemed to grasp that perhaps it was best to wait for another ATM; others were less receptive and continued with their transactions.

The next morning — after verifying that the hotel’s ATM was still compromised and trying in vain to hail the security folks again at the hotel — I headed out in the rental car. I was eager to visit some of the other more popular tourist destinations about an hour to the south of Cancun, including Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cozumel. I wanted to see how many of those towns were hacked by this same skimming crew.

I was about to learn that the true scope of this scam was far larger than I’d imagined.

If you haven’t already done so, please check out Part II and Part III of this investigative series:

Tracking Bluetooth Skimmers in Mexico, Part II

Who’s Behind Bluetooth Skimming in Mexico?

(Ed. Note: August is known to be a very quiet month in the hockey world. As we wait for September to arrive and training camps to begin, let’s learn a little history about all 30 teams. Behold, our summer A-Z series, in which we ask fans of all 30 teams to drop some knowledge on us! Add your own choices in the comments!)

By: Laura Astorian, managing editor of St. Louis Game Time

A. Al Arbour

Arbour is probably best known as the coach that created a dynasty out of the New York Islanders in the 1980s, or the second winningist coach of all time. Arbour is beloved by Blues fans as well, as he was one of the first to wear the Bluenote.

He was hired as coach of the Blues halfway through his last season, and was let go due to lack of playoff success. Needless to say, Arbour is one of many who has been let go or traded by the team only to win a Stanley Cup elsewhere.

“Al’s a good sergeant, but he’s no general” may be the most Blues assessment of a member of the franchise on record.

B. Bernie Federko

Hall of Famer Bernie Federko (I believe that may be his full legal name now) played for 13 seasons with the Blues and one final season with that team everyone plays for before they retire. The franchise leader in games played did the Blues a parting solid, by being part of the trade that helped bring Adam Oates to St. Louis. Bernie holds the team records for assists (721), points (1073) and most confusing things said during a home broadcast (pick a date).

C. Cujo

Curtis Joseph was supposed to be the Goalie of The Future, before being claimed by both the annual Blues Goaltending Pile-On conducted by their fans and Mike Keenan.

Joseph said of Keenan:

"I couldn't imagine anyone treating other human beings that way," Joseph once said in regard to the treatment by his coach. "I had had it. I even cleared his (Keenan's) desk one day when our conversation got a little heated. The trade to Edmonton (for Shayne Corson and Marty Reasoner on 28 July, 1995) was the best thing that ever happened to me. I couldn't take it anymore."

D. Dan Kelly

Dan Kelly was the radio and later television play-by-play announcer for the St. Louis Blues. He passed away in 1989 due to lung cancer, and a banner with a shamrock was raised to the Kiel Center rafters. The players also wore it as a patch for that season. His son, John, is the current play-by-play analyst for FoxSports Midwest’s Blues broadcasts.

E. Emerson, Nelson

Emerson was drafted 44th overall in the 1985 entry draft. In three seasons with the Blues he potted 45 goals and added 87 assists before heading to the Winnipeg Jets. He also was, inexplicably, one of the most sought-after rookie cards around when I was a kid. I wound up with the Pro Set one.

F. Flying Cavallini Brothers

Paul Cavallini lost the tip of his finger while blocking a Doug Wilson shot in 1990. He’s now a stockbroker in St. Louis. His brother Gino suited up for 454 games for the Blues. They are still favorites on The Hill, St. Louis’ Italian neighborhood, where one goes for bocce ball and to carbo-load at Rigazzi’s before a home game.

G. Great One, The

Who could forget those thrilling 18 regular season games and 13 playoff games where Wayne Gretzky skated with the C on his chest for St. Louis? Probably everyone, unless you’re Steve Yzerman.

Gretzky wanted to retire a Blue, but couldn’t deal with Mike Keenan anymore. Instead, Gretzky skated his last season with the New York Rangers before retiring. He still pops up at Blues games now and then.

H. Hullie

The Kiel Center was the House that Hull Built. And the Kiel Auditorium parking garage was the parking garage that Hull destroyed:

Brett Hull is the reason that St. Louis is cranking out young and talented players, he’s the reason that so many people in my generation love the Blues, and he’s the reason that so many hate Mike Keenan. Every bit of that is deserved.

I. Inconceivable Decisions By Owners

Sid Salomon III losing Scotty Bowman and Al Arbour. Ralston Purina handing the team over to the NHL. Bill Laurie’s fire sale that sent Chris Pronger to Edmonton. Firing Joel Quenneville. Made-up shutouts and a hoped for Stanley Cup parade down “Market Avenue” by Dave Checketts.  The Blues aren’t cursed, they just have had a string of questionable ownership groups. Thankfully, that string’s broken.

J. Jumpin’, Holy

The Blues color announcer is Darren Pang. You may have noticed that he has a catchphrase.

For some reason, it has been set it to music.

K. Keenan, Mike

Sure, Brendan Shanahan for Chris Pronger worked out well for the Blues, but you have the deplorable low-balling of Brett Hull during contract discussions a season after Keenan stripped the captaincy from him in favor of Shayne Corson, and you have the loss of Gretzky, who wanted to retire as a Blue. You have battles of will, you have Keenan coaching far under expectations after his 1994 Cup win with the Rangers.

All of this was nicely summarized on Brett Hull’s Hall of Fame night by one intrepid fan, who shouted “I HATE MIKE KEENAN” during a quiet moment. Hull and Keenan might’ve cleared the air, but Blues fans may never not despise Iron Mike.

L. Liut, Mike

Blues fans were chanting goalie names that sounded like boos before it was cool. Liut, a Blues draftee, amassed 65 wins his first two seasons; he would’ve won the Hart Trophy in 1981 if it weren’t for Wayne Gretzky.

He had to settle for the Lester B. Pearson Trophy instead. Unfortunately, after his stellar first two years, Liut never cracked .500, and was traded to the Hartford Whalers. He currently is making his way in the world as an agent for Octagon, representing Vladimir Tarasenko among others.

M. Monday Night Miracle

May 12, 1986 may be one of the most Blues-like moments in history. Hope soon to be followed by defeat is a theme with this franchise, and this may be the ultimate example of that. Down 5-2 with 12 minutes to go in game six of the Western Conference Finals, the Blues erased the deficit in 12 minutes with goals from Brian Sutter and Greg Paslawski, who also scored the third goal in tremendous fashion to send the game to overtime. Doug Wickenheiser potted the overtime game winner.

The Blues lost game seven in Calgary, 2-1. They wouldn’t return to the Western Conference Finals until 2001.

N. No Draft Pick

The Blues, who were in danger of being moved to Saskatoon thanks to Ralston Purina no longer wanting to own a hockey team. There were lawsuits and countersuits between the group out of Saskatoon, Purina, and the NHL. The uncertainty led to the Blues not having a representative at the 1983 draft. No representative, no draft picks. It’s the only time in NHL history that a team did not participate in the draft.

O. Oates, Adam

Hull and Oates were one of the greatest hockey duos in history, and money ruined everything. For the two and a half seasons that Adam Oates was in St. Louis, no one dished the puck to Hull like he did. Hull potted 212 goals in that time, with Oates tallying 228 assists. Oates also had 58 goals, and Hull had 113 assists. Though the magic was brief, it gave us these posters:

P. Plager Bros.

Bob, Billy, and Barclay taught the Flyers how to be Bullies.

On January 6th, 1972, a Flyers fan decided to dump a beer onto Blues coach Al Arbour. The team took exception to that. Led by Bob Plager and Phil Roberto, a gaggle of Blues players (including Barclay) went into the stands to find the offending fan.

If this sounds familiar to anyone who isn’t a Blues fan, pop in a copy of Slap Shot for a refresher. This melee, along with the Plager Brothers reputation, served as the inspiration for the Hanson Bros. Much like some of the Chiefs wound up having to be bailed out later that night, so did some of the Blues.

Q. [is for] Q

Oh, look, another coach fired by the Blues who went on to have great Stanley Cup success. Joel Quenneville’s record after six full seasons and portions of two others was 307–191–77–18. He also helped guide the Blues to a President’s Trophy and the Western Conference Finals, so sure, obviously it made perfect sense to let the guy go.

R. Red Berenson

The Blues acquired Red with Barclay Plager from the Rangers in 1967. Later that season he scored a double hat trick against the Flyers. Traded in 1970 to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Gary Unger. The Wings traded Berenson back to the Blues after four years, and Berenson retired with the team that helped solidify his star status.

S. Scott Stevens

Yes, Brendan Shanahan came to St. Louis thanks to the deal that sent Stevens to the New Jersey Devils (the first of two controversial deals involving Shanny for the Blues), but the deal cost the Blues’ multiple draft picks. First they sent five picks to the Capitals for Stevens. Then GM Ron Caron signed Shanny to an offer sheet, and as compensation the judge gave the Devils Stevens, who promptly requested a meeting with his attorney while he refused to report to Devils training camp.

Was this the NHL getting back at the Blues for the deal that got Stevens to begin with? The world may never know, but the Blues offer sheeted Stevens in 1999.This offer sheet cost the team another five first round draft picks.

T. Turek, Roman

In the 1999-2000 season, Turek was lights out, posting a 1.95 GAA and a .912 save percentage while accumulating a 42-15-9 record. He then lost four games in the playoffs with a .275 GAA and a .882 SV%. Basically, typical Blues playoff goaltending.

U. Unger, Garry

Unger played 917 games in a row between 1968 and 1979. Nine of those seasons were with the St. Louis Blues, before Unger left to join the Atlanta Flames. He, along with Keith Tkachuk, Joe Mullen, and Berenson, all have their number 7 honored by the Blues.

V. Vladimir Tarasenko

If every letter in this post could’ve been given to one player, I would have gladly written an entire article featuring Yladimir Yeresenko, Hladimir Heresenko, and Zladimir Zeresenko. He’s the first superstar for the Blues since Brett Hull, and his recent contract is proof that he’s the cornerstone of the team for the foreseeable future.

W. Walt

Only the 6th American to score 1000 points, Keith Tkachuk spent 2001-2007 with the Blues before being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers for Glen Metropolit and a slew of draft picks. After the Thrashers’ one failed playoff run ended, Tkachuk returned to the Blues and finished his career there in 2010. His retirement may have been hastened by injuries sustained after scoring a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks with his face.

X. 

You may have seen this emoji pop up on Twitter after this goal:

Watch the players on the bench.

Barret Jackman, recently signed by the Nashville Predators after being told the Blues were going in a younger direction for defense, is second all-time in franchise games played. Bobby Plager gave him special dispensation to wear his number 5; Bobby was on to something – Jackman won the Calder trophy in 1999, beating out Rick Nash and Henrik Zetterberg. Never forget.

Y. Yake, Terry

This one came down between Yake and Yan Stastny, and Terry got more votes on Twitter. Congrats, Terry!

Yake spent two and a half seasons with the Blues, posting not bad numbers, before being traded to the Washington Capitals and then fading into AHL/European obscurity. Yake, like many former Blues, has made his home in St. Louis, where he sells meat.

Z. Zezel, Peter

Rest in peace.

Meet the author: Laura’s been a fan of the St. Louis Blues since childhood, which makes for about 25 years of futility for her. She hopes that a Stanley Cup win isn’t 25 years away, but still has a wheelchair and an escape plan to get her mother out of the nursing home to see the parade.  Follow her on Twitter @hildymac, or visit St. Louis Game Time, which she is the managing editor of.

Previous A to Z Guides: Anaheim | Arizona | Boston | Buffalo | Calgary | Carolina | Chicago | Colorado | Columbus | Dallas | Detroit | Edmonton | Florida | Los Angeles | Minnesota | Montreal | Nashville | New Jersey | NY Islanders | NY Rangers | Ottawa | Philadelphia | Pittsburgh | San Jose

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