A METHOD AND EQUIPMENT TO INDICATE ADULTERATION OF A CARD READING TERMINAL

摘要

The invention refers to a method and equipment to indicate adulteration in a card reading terminal of the POS or PinPad types, based on the identification of alterations in the electrical characteristics of the terminal. Such adulteration consists in the fraudulent installation, inside the terminal, of a collecting device which stores the information and the passwords of the cards that are processed by the terminal, where such data is subsequently used for cloning cards. The said electrical characteristics comprise, among others, alterations in the voltage values measured between certain pins of the external connector of the terminal, the said alterations being the consequence of the fraudulent installation of the said device. The equipment indicates the presence of the collecting device by means of activation of a indicator light, such as a LED.