How to Scam Scanners and other Hardware

How to Scam Scanners and other Hardware

by DIzzIE

BY: DIzzIE {with help from an anonymous insider} [c]opyleft2002

Introduction

This scam, like many others, requires a good degree of social engineering, hence it is not one for you misanthropic shut-ins, unless you have the charm of someone along the lines of Ted Bundy. The overall layout, the skeletal structure of the scam if you will, is you posing as a repairman/technician, infiltrating an establishment that has the utility you have been dispatched by your company to repair, and successfully carrying out the desired object from the establishment, thus completing a successful scam. This will be cleared up in the Case Example below.

Case Example

Various establishments across the United States, particularly Walmart and Kinko’s have begun carrying the Kodak Picture Maker machine, which lets you print out copies of your photographs. To locate a Photo Maker near you, use Kodak’s online store locator:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consu....jhtml?B=5&K=7 , with the main website being

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consu...er/index.jhtml

The photomaker houses a scanner and two photo printers (for varying sized prints), it also houses a computer, but we are not interested in that. Your goal is to successfully obtain the scanner and/or the printers. This will be accomplished by you entering the store (let’s say Walmart) that you know has a Kodak PhotoMaker. You will ask the person who greets you to point you in the direction of the electronics department as that is where the Maker is most likely to be. You will then locate a nearby employee, explain to him/her that you are a Kodak technician and have been sent to upgrade the hardware. The machines are owned by Kodak hence the employee will oblige, he/she will also have the key to open the back of the machine (upon your request).

However, to back up a bit, some safety preparations will be required. You can make a Kodak Employee ID using a word processor or desktop publishing program like Adobe Photoshop, simply have it include your picture, a Kodak logo (which can be copied and pasted from their website), a bullshit employee #, and so on. Next simply print out and laminate using laminating paper which can be purchased at most office supplies stores. Show this card for authenticity when introducing yourself to the employee. Next, is your dress. You should be dressed cleanly, preferably with a tucked in golf shit and clean pants with a belt. Do not dress flamboyantly, yet at the same time do not underdress, hence a the golf shirt/khakis is fine. Next, find two cheap printers and a scanner at a garage sale or swap meet. These will be the “new” hardware parts you will be replacing the current ones with. The printers and scanner should be cleaned to look new and placed in cardboard boxes which you will carry in with you. If you wish, you can also tell a friend to call the store manager a little bit before you enter the store, pretending to be a Kodak representative saying something along the lines of: “This is Charley from Kodak, we are doing a standard hardware upgrade, one of our tech guys should stop by later today to replace your hardware in the Photo Maker you guys have.”

Now you are ready to enter the store. As stated before, proceed to the location of the photomaker (keeping in mind that it is important that you have never been seen in the store before, hence a friend should have told you the location of the photomaker, or you simply used the online store lookup and will find the machine yourself or ask the employee). Locate a nearby employee and tell him that you are a Kodak rep. who is here to upgrade the hardware of the Photo Maker. Ask the employee to unlock the Photo Maker, then get to work. The employee will probably not stand by you, on account of other work he has to do, yet even if he does that should pose no threat. You will simply disconnect the current scanner/printers in the Photo Maker booth, and connect, or at least make it appear as if you have connected, the “new” ones which you obtained from a garage sale. The procedure of unhooking the equipment and rehooking your own equipment should not take longer then five minutes, after which you should close up the boxes, say ‘thank you, everything updated’ to the employee and walk out the front door, nodding to the employee at the door.

Congratulations, you now have a scanner and two printers to sell. Look up the model numbers online to find the retail price, and set your prices accordingly. Something to keep in mind is: if you do not want to go through obtaining the cheap scanner and printers through a garage sail or what not, your scam can vary in that you are simply ‘recalling’ the parts, and will return with the new hardware tomorrow. However, this strain of the scam has a lower success rate simply due to human nature: the employees will be more mistrustful of you if you simply take the parts and leave nothing in return, however that does not mean that you shouldn’t try it. You may proceed with this version at one store, upon which if it does not work (if you are questioned/stopped by the employee) you can simply say ‘look man, I’m just doing my job, if you’re not gonna let me take this fine. My supervisor will contact your manager tomorrow.’ Then leave, and try another store.

Remember that this is a case example, and that simple variations with the same principle can well work at other locations. All of which will involve you posing as a technician needing to ‘upgrade’ or ‘take in for repair’ a certain piece of hardware.