10 Ridiculously Illegal Things You Can Make With A 3-D Printer

7. ATM Skimmer

The ATM, hole-in-the-wall, or Automated Teller Machine has now been with us for a good while. A sure source of cash for those with healthy bank balances and those with no bank account at all, these have attracted attention from thieves the world over ever since they were first installed. Stealing ATMs is still considered lucrative enough among the criminal fraternity to warrant looping a rope around one and hoisting it from its surrounding brickwork using a stolen Mitsubishi Shogun or even a JCB digger. But why go to such effort and take the risk of getting caught? Well OK, apart from the satisfaction of the adrenalin rush. ATM skimmers have come to the fore as the sophisticated way to relieve innocent people of their cash. The devices themselves are not illegal, but it's very hard to justify owning one. There is risk attached to buying one over the Internet, not least that of having people like the FBI and various country's secret services watching you. So, why not set up as a producer of ATM skimmers and knock them out on your desktop, instead? This machine is just a far less sophisticated version of machinery such as that featured at no. 9 in our list, so if you can build an iPhone then you could manage this alright. Unsurprisingly, it has already been done. Prosecutors in Texas, USA, indicted a gang for stealing $400,000 between 2009 and 2011 who had used 3-D printed skimmers to rob banks all round the state. In Sydney, Australia, a Romanian gang is suspected of using the same technology to divest 15 ATMs around the city of $100,000. If you are not into the technology of skimming you will not realise that each device is custom built for a certain type of ATM, which is where the 3-D printed variety comes into its own. There is a very lucrative business available for criminals that can match the most accurately copied ATM skimmers to the right targeted machine, simply by working off a photo of it. All of which takes us onto another variety of article available for use in the commission of crime...