Dictionary definition of “Lebanese loop”

Lebanese loop

n. a device that illicitly traps banking cards inserted into an automated teller machine or cashpoint. Subjects: English, Crime & Prisons, Money & Finance

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Citations: 1996 Barry Schreiber EFT Report (Jan. 18) “Atm Security Forecast At Forefront Of 1996 Plans” vol. 19, no. 2,: In addition, the so-called “Lebanese loop card trap” has spread across Argentina, Canada, Spain and the United States. For this crime, first discovered in Lebanon, a card trap, which uses a strip of film, is inserted in the card reader to prevent the card from being returned after the transaction. *2002 Heads Up Fraud Prevention Association (Edmonton, Alberta) (June 7) “Heads Up Alert: The Lebanese Loop”: This devise has been dubbed the “Lebanese loop” as has been used by Lebanese suspects.…As with most, some evolution has taken place. The new loop devices apparently skim the data and collect the PIN all at once when the card is inserted. 2003 Asian Banker Journal (Oct. 1) “Beating the card ‘skimmers’”: In the case of the Lebanese Loop, a special retention mechanism prevents the unauthorised device, and an inserted customer card, from being withdrawn. 2005 Kent & Sussex Courier (England) (Apr. 9) “Warning over atm machine device” p. 9: Police are warning hole-in-the-wall users to be on the lookout after a Lebanese loop machine was discovered on a cash-point in Crowborough. 2005 Peter Cheney Globe and Mail (Toronto, Can.) (Sept. 10) “The Sting” p. M1: Another common technique is known as the Lebanese Loop (named after a Lebanese crime syndicate that invented it). The fraudsters install a plastic slot with a loop of tape inside it on bank machines. When a customer puts in his cards, the tape catches it. Then a gang member comes to the aid of the customer as he tries to retrieve his card, and suggests that he punch in his PIN to get the card back. When the customer leaves, the gang member retrieves the card and uses it.

Posted 21 Sep 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend