ZA201008109B

ZA201008109B - Automatic teller machine card slot tamper alarm

Info

Publication number: ZA201008109B
Application number: ZA2010/08109A
Authority: ZA
Inventors: Paul Warren
Original assignee: Ringoscan (Pty) Ltd
Priority date: 2009-08-14
Filing date: 2010-11-12
Publication date: 2011-07-27

Description

AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE CARD SLOT TAMPER ALARM

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a tamper alarm for a card slot of an automatic teller machine, also known as an ATM.

Background of the Invention

The use of ATM's for withdrawing cash is well known for several decades. The operation is initiated by the insertion of a card, such as a credit card or a cash card bearing a magnetic strip or, more recently, a chip, into a card slot where the card is read by the ATM and the user is requested to verify their identity by means of a person identification number (PIN) or even by a fingerprint or other biometric means.

Criminals realized that if they could intercept the card of a user and then obtain their

PIN, with which they could commit fraud and withdraw money from the account of the victim.

One manifestation of such criminal activity entails tampering with the card slot thereby to either retain the card of the victim for later retrieval or to read the card details, monitor the entering of the PIN by the victim, and then later cloning the card and using same for nepherious reasons. This is sometimes referred to as card skimming.

Video monitoring systems have the draw back that the recorded event is only viewed long after the event when the chance of apprehending the perpetrator is greatly reduced.

Thus, the inventor has identified a need for monitoring the card slot and to trigger an alarm if same is tampered with.

Object of the Invention

® It is an object of the invention to detect intentionally created manual blockages of the card slot in an ATM and to send an alarm to a remote control room or security as soon as possible or even during the event taking place.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a card slot tamper alarm system, which alarm system includes: - a sensing means which senses the insertion of an object into the card slot; - a method which monitors the period that an object remains in the slot and which determines when the object has been in the slot for a period in excess of a predetermined norm and the object is thus indentified as a likely blockage and which triggers an alarm state in the alarm system and inhibits normal operation; and - sounding an alarm or transmitting an alarm signal in response to the triggering of the alarm state.

The predetermined period may be from 1 to 90 seconds, typically around 45 seconds.

The sensing means may be mounted on a support frame which is position adjacent or contiguously with a mouth opening of the card slot.

The sensing means may include a transmitter and a receiver located on opposite sides of the card slot so that the insertion of the object, such as a card, interrupts the reception of the signal by the receiver from the transmitter.

The transmitter and the receiver may be an optical transmitter and receiver pair.

The sensing means may operate with the transmitter transmitting a signal several times a second.

The sensing means may operate with the transmitter transmitting a signal about 10 times a second.

The number of signals sent per second may be limited by the ability of associated computer hardware and software to receive and process a signal from the receiver. In the event that the signal is not received by the receiver an alarm that there is a potential blockage is activated.

® The software may determine whether a blockage exists by analyzing whether the alarm condition exists for a period in excess of the predetermined norm and, in the event that a blockage is detected, notify a control centre of the event.

The control centre may include one or more operators who decide finally whether a blockage exists and whether a response team should be dispatched or the bank notified.

In one embodiment, the system consists of a metal bracket that is mounted in the security throat of the card slot in the ATM and which incorporates a sensor having a transmitter and a receiver which are connected to a PC Board in a Digital Video

Recorder (DVR) installed in the ATM and wherein software interprets the data and in defined circumstances raises an alarm at the main control centre.

Description of an Embodiment of the Invention

The invention may be illustrated, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the diagrammatic representations.

® Figure 1 shows a flow diagram of the alarm system which has been termed “clear throat”; and

Figure 2 shows a photographic representation of a prototype of the sensor arrangement of the invention.

The card slot tamper alarm system of the example consists of a metal bracket which is mounted in the security throat of the card slot in an ATM. It incorporates a sending and a receiving sensor which is connected to the PC Board of the DVR installed within the

ATM. The sending and receiving sensors are mounted on the metal bracket to extend into a gap between an outer card slot which normally faces the user of an ATM and an inner card slot which feeds the card to the hardware of the ATM.

When the sensor field is interrupted, this is recognised as a specific, defined, event which through the application of specific software, is then electronically marked on the recording media and tracked for a specified (adjustable) period of time. If the field remains broken for a period in excess of the defined period of time, an alarm is raised.

The sensor typically operates by the transmitter sending a periodic signal across the gap to the receiver, about 10 times per second. If the receiver fails to receive a

® transmitted signal then the software identifies that the cord slot is obstructed. However, this may be a normal card transaction wherein a card is inserted into the card slot an interrupts the signal for a few seconds. When the software determines that the signal has been interrupted for a period of about 45 seconds (as currently this is the length of time taken for a standard transaction where a card remains in the slot), and it is likely that the card slot has been blocked or obstructed, then an alarm state is raised and operators in a control centre are alerted and shown live video or recorded video footage of the ATM at which the alarm state is occurring.

This alarm is transmitted via a Virtual Private Network (VPN) (or other similar type of network) to an off-site monitoring centre which registers the event as a red tag event, and isolates the specific recorded material and presents it to control room personnel for immediate attention. :

In these matters response time is of the essence as tampering of the kind envisaged is often a pre-cursor to card skimming, fraud, card swapping, or intended to prevent cash being withdrawn from the ATM so that if the ATM is bombed it will have all its cash.

Claims

1. A card slot tamper alarm system, which alarm system includes: - a sensing means which senses the insertion of an object into the card slot; - a method which monitors the period that an object remains in the slot and which determines when the object has been in the slot for a period in excess of a predetermined norm and the object is thus indentified as a likely blockage and which triggers an alarm state in the alarm system and inhibits normal operation; and - sounding an alarm or transmitting an alarm signal in response to the triggering of the alarm state.

2. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the - predetermined period is from 1 to 90 seconds.

3. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the sensing means is mounted on a support frame which is positioned adjacent or contiguously with a mouth opening of the card slot.

4. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sensing means includes a transmitter and a receiver located on opposite

® sides of the card slot so that the insertion of the object interrupts the reception of the signal by the receiver from the transmitter.

S. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are an optical transmitter and receiver pair.

6. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the sensing means operates with the transmitter transmitting a signal several times a second.

7. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the sensing means operates with the transmitter transmitting a signal about 10 times a second.

8. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the number of signals sent per second is limited by the ability of associated computer hardware and software to receive and process a signal from the receiver since in the event that the signal is not received by the receiver an alarm that there is a potential blockage is activated.

® 9. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein software determines whether a blockage exists by analyzing whether the alarm condition exists for a period in excess of the predetermined norm and, in the event that a blockage is detected, notifying a control centre of the event.

10. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the control centre includes one or more operators who decide finally whether a blockage exists and whether a response team should be dispatched or the bank notified.

11. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the system consists of a metal bracket that is mounted in a security throat of the card slot in an ATM and which incorporates the sensor having the transmitter and the receiver which are connected to a PC Board in a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) installed in the ATM and wherein software interprets the data and in defined circumstances raises an alarm at the main control centre.

12. A card slot tamper alarm system as claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein described and illustrated.

13. A new card slot tamper alarm system substantially as herein described.

Vin ® DATED THIS 12™ DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2010. 7 / Vo HAHN & HAHN INC.

Agent for Applicant