Friday, October 08, 2010

Pay Boxes Being Stolen

As parking revenues are up (for a private company, not the city), it isn't surprising someone has decided to start knocking over the boxes:


Was it Dillinger who said he robbed banks because that's where the money was? (UPDATE: Commentator says it was bank robber Willie Sutton - thanks!)

Here's a question though - some people pay with credit cards. It that info stored somewhere in the meter box and can it be recovered by someone with some no-so-pure motives?

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38 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, I knew this was gonna happen. Those hated black Daley obelisks just beg "Knock me over." Gonna start finding more of 'em, charred and gutted in vacant lots, forest preserves, on the riverbanks...

10/08/2010 12:09:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry. I support anyone who fucks up those things. Vandalize them, steal them, deface them, who cares. Justifiable civil disobedience against an awful, awful government decision.

10/08/2010 12:09:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Here's a question though - some people pay with credit cards. It that info stored somewhere in the meter box and can it be recovered by someone with some no-so-pure motives?"
____________________________________

Great Question! Can you say Hard Drive?

10/08/2010 12:57:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Screw that! If I catch someone with one of those damn thing, he's getting a free ride to the city limits...and a double sawbuck!!

10/08/2010 01:06:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Answer; YUP!

10/08/2010 01:39:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Riddle me this: the pay boxes are private property, why am I treating this as more than a simple property crime? Also, why notify Area 5 no matter where the boxes are found? Something smells rotten in Denmark. LAZ paid for the right to put up boxes. LAZ owns the boxes. LAZ took the risk that they could effectively manage the program. If they don't like the way the contract is going, I am sure that the contract could and should be renegotiated.

10/08/2010 01:47:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

they steal whole atm machines, pay boxes are easy pray....

10/08/2010 02:40:00 AM  
Blogger Paul Huebl Crimefile News said...

Thst quote was from bank robber, Willie Sutton!

10/08/2010 03:13:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Follow up question I would love to have answered: Are these pay boxes susceptible to those debit card readers that are used to steal card numbers from ATM machines? The type that are inserted after someone withdraws cash, and their information is copied down?

Maybe I need to start carrying LOTS of quarters. Since it costs $0.25 to park for 8 minutes downtown... [rolling my eyes]

10/08/2010 03:16:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

How does society allow a for profit private agency to enforce the laws and reap profits from that enforcement? You talk about conflicts of interests! Denmark is rotten!

10/08/2010 05:06:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was Willie Sutton that made that remark about banks.

10/08/2010 05:42:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dey robbin pay boxes to buy some orange soda and flamin hots, of course.

10/08/2010 06:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If the credit card data is stored without encryption, then that's a PCI violation and will lead to liability for any losses.

10/08/2010 06:51:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those pay boxes are for the parking at Railroad stations, thus its the Metra police's problem.

10/08/2010 08:35:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Knowing how the City gets fucked every which way in these contracts the city might be liable for damage or theft, they already agreed to pay if the company experiences a revenue shortfall. how's that? A low ball contract and taxpayers guarantee them a fucking profit or else we pay.

Might be the same with the pay boxes, don't know, it was negotiated by the Daley boys so you know the taxpayers get fucked.

10/08/2010 08:46:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Follow up question I would love to have answered: Are these pay boxes susceptible to those debit card readers that are used to steal card numbers from ATM machines? The type that are inserted after someone withdraws cash, and their information is copied down?

Maybe I need to start carrying LOTS of quarters. Since it costs $0.25 to park for 8 minutes downtown... [rolling my eyes]

10/08/2010 03:16:00 AM


...or start carrying a hammer to beat the damn thing to death and then fuck the ticket.

10/08/2010 08:47:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Naw, I think the credit card data is wirelessly transmitted to central servers. The smart thief would start monitoring those frequencies.

10/08/2010 09:31:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My dad was a pay-box robber, never hurt nooobody...

- Joe Strummer

10/08/2010 09:50:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

GIVEAWAY TO PERP:

New battery operated sawzall and electric drill.

No strings - just want the help you further eliminate these money grubbing bandits!

10/08/2010 10:04:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I do not believe the info is saved in the machines. The machine typically communicates with the bank and that data is stored on the banks computers. If that is your honest fear. You should fear using your credit card anywhere because there are people out there with the capability to intercept those transmissions. I could be wrong. I didn't google my response yet.

10/08/2010 10:39:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's LAZ's problem, not ours. I will never enforce the LAZ parking violations. F*** 'em.

10/08/2010 01:37:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These things have a CPU and either flash memory or a hard drive. If the data isnt encrypted, someone is in deep shit.

10/08/2010 02:54:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Naw, I think the credit card data is wirelessly transmitted to central servers. The smart thief would start monitoring those frequencies.

10/08/2010 09:31:00 AM


___________________________________

The data is encrypted. The smart thief wouldn't waste their time and would set up a fake wifi hot spot to grab data.

10/08/2010 04:28:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thermite FTW!

10/08/2010 05:34:00 PM  
Anonymous 38 and Gone said...

Where is "Quarters" Boyle. Could his ex-con, ex-fire fighter brother be helping him.

10/08/2010 06:01:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

classic COOL HAND LUKE******

What we have here---- Is a failure to communicate!

Now let's eat some hard boiled eggs

I/F

10/08/2010 06:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah, call us. Sure we'll give the show of shows. Then you can 19P your job. Forget about LAZ and the Shity of Chicago, bad choice by the Democratic Machine to push the parking meter through without reading the lease agreement. Most of the box surfaces are textured so what does that tell you.

10/08/2010 09:03:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was told that this stealing of pay boxes is an inside job. That is why there is so much interest. And that is why you have to contact A/5. Take it for what it's worth.

10/08/2010 10:35:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Most of the box surfaces are textured so what does that tell you.

10/08/2010 09:03:00 PM

I dunno. Texture paint to hide cheap fabrication work?

I'm a citizen and would like to see these machines burn the same way the Brits torch the Gatsos.

10/08/2010 11:21:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I like the thermite idea:
http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-make-thermite.html
Just put it in a clay pot and use a sparkler as your timer... Its a fun at home science experiment for the kids.

-Not a cop, but an engineer.

10/08/2010 11:55:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To 10/08/2010 03:16:00 AM:

The CC readers wirelessly check with the banks to see if the funds are available...nothing more.

If yes...Sale is authorized...no Data is stored in the box Hard Drive.

The HD in the boxes is a few Gigs. Just for the basic program that runs the Reader, the Clock sync system, the solar recharge program.

Respectfully,

A Revenue Mouthbreather that prays for a Police Exam.

10/09/2010 12:18:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There is a delicate solar panel on the top of the pay boxes. Be careful of those, they are expensive and easily broken and it costs a lot to replace one.

Also, assume there are cameras inside each pay box and act accordingly.

10/09/2010 08:04:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Sorry. I support anyone who fucks up those things. Vandalize them, steal them, deface them, who cares. Justifiable civil disobedience against an awful, awful government decision.

10/08/2010 12:09:00 AM


Anyone know for sure if there are cameras inside the pay box?

10/09/2010 08:05:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Might be entertaining to get some cheap high powered magnets from American Science and Surplus and stick them somewhere the hard drives might be located...

10/09/2010 01:57:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"There is a delicate solar panel on the top of the pay boxes. Be careful of those, they are expensive and easily broken and it costs a lot to replace one"

3 words: automatic center punch.

10/10/2010 10:19:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know how new, strange things at first look bigger than they really are ? I was looking at one of these obelisks tonight and I realized that I'm bigger than it is. Almost made me want to put on shoulder pads and charge the thing to see how much moxie it's really got.

Mark my words -- street kids are going to gang up and just rock these things right off the pavement; once the metal gives a little, it'll give a little more. Back! Forth! Back! Forth! >>>snap<<<

There is money inside these things. Maybe one guy, and definitely two, could just go running around the corner with the box. That would seem to mitigate against a long life on a Chicago street.

Looking forward to a brighter future...

10/10/2010 10:25:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I'm a citizen and would like to see these machines burn the same way the Brits torch the Gatsos."

--10/08/2010 11:21:00 PM

Here are four pages of pics of destroyed speed cameras in the UK.

http://www.speedcam.co.uk/gatso2.htm

The French don't care for 'em, either.

http://english.controleradar
.org/burning-gatso.php

Of course, the president of the speed camera company doesn't pay any attention to the speed limits--

Gatso UK Boss caught driving at 102mph on a 70mph road

Story courtesy of the Telegraph.

"The Chief Exec of Serco UK, the global service company that has contracts in Safety Cameras, defence, justice, healthcare and many more sectors has been arrested after being photographed driving at 102mph on the A11.

"Tom Riall is due to appear before magistrates in Suffolk on Wednesday. If found guilty he faces a driving ban of up to two years and a E. 2,500 fine."

http://www.pocketgpsworld
.com/Gatso-UK-Boss-caught
-driving-at-102mph-on-a-
70mph-road-5065.php

It's inspirational, that's what it is. Inspirational.

10/12/2010 02:45:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the commentators are being short sighted.

Huge security hole..think about it...those boxes are everywhere...you get a few stolen ones loaded with explosives...set to detonate for major events! It takes next to nothing to mock up a LAZ truck to replace a real box with a hot one.

Same for stolen Mailboxes, SQUAD CARS and uniforms!

WAKE UP PEOPLE.

Civil.Servant.ORD
... ...

10/12/2010 11:53:00 AM  

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