The humble iPod nano isn't as popular with the general public as is once was, but there's one group still finding new uses for it: criminals. They're using them to steal people's PINs.

An iPod nano might seem like a ridiculous way to do it, but it's actually an ideal device for capturing button presses. It's got a decent camera and its battery can keep it powered for two to three weeks depending on usage. It's also very slim, which makes it easy for a criminal to hide one above an ATM keypad. Slap a piece of plastic that matches the fascia of the ATM, and most users will never notice it's there.

Fortunately, some folks are starting to check for signs of tampering before they use bank machines. A British woman who stopped to use a Barclay's ATM in Radcliffe noticed something that look out of place on the machine. She grabbed a loose section of plastic and gave it a tug and discovered a modded iPod nano affixed to it. She immediately turned it in to the local police, who urge the public to follow her lead. There's been a rash of iPod scamming going on in the Manchester area in recent months.

The big problem is that not all point-of-sale equipment and ATMs support chip technology yet. So even though it's right there on your card, a lot of machines just ignore it — making skimmer that steal stripe data and iPods that capture PIN entry a workable system for creating duplicate cards and making fraudulent purchases and withdrawals.

Image courtesy Manchester Evening News