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Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

nofreelunch.co.uk

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Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#111

Post by Mister_Snuggles »

cogogo wrote: post #81
nikanj wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was decades ago, the ticket machines were not real-time connected to anything. It's entirely possible the numbers accounting used for ticket sales was the amount of cash retrieved from the machines, and there was no separate system keeping track of the tickets printed.

They likely counted the number of passengers via turnstiles or a gate or something. Think passenger count would be a good indicator of expected revenue and there would be a pretty clear gap. Probably one of the things the auditors noticed that was explained away by buggy code.

Unfortunately in Edmonton, the LRT is largely on the honour system. There are no fare gates, turnstiles, etc, to derive an accurate count from. Any passenger counts presumably come from statistical sampling or from checking fares as they exit the system (this is an occasional enforcement activity, not an everyday occurrence).

There is a pilot project[0] to put turnstiles/gates at two stations, but this is to keep the homeless out of the stations, not to count passengers.

[0] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/transit-turnstiles-o...

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#112

Post by lotsofpulp »

robertlagrant wrote: post #104
lotsofpulp wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You don't see too many banks collapsing, don't you? When it happens, its a big deal like with the SVB earlier last year. "Moderating risk" = depending on the US federal government bail you out? There really is no need for the charade of banks now that electronic databases are very solid technology. Their whole role in transmitting and keeping an account of money is surely reproducible by the federal government at ve…

> Their whole role in transmitting and keeping an account of money is surely reproducible by the federal government at very little cost (maybe even lower cost due to not needing FDIC and all that infrastructure) without having to pay a middleman. Banks don't store money. They connect money to businesses in a structured way. No banks means businesses won't get created.

I specified an (FDIC insured) bank's role "in transmitting and keeping an account of money". There would be nothing stopping a lender from lending if the US government gets rid of FDIC insurance and just provides the people of the US electronic money accounts directly.

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#113

Post by oblio »

mywacaday wrote: post #87
belter wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked in finance and I am not aware of jurisdictions that mandate 2 weeks time off. Can you mention one? I am aware of some recommendations but I have worked up to board level, and never see this being more than an excuse to not miss the next golf tournament.

I worked in a bank in Europe that was Dutch owned and we were requied to take two weeks. I don't know of that was a company policy though.

It probably wasn't. In many places in Europe it's legally mandated for employees to have 1 big leave per year, at least 2 weeks, so that they can fully unwind.

https://www.codulmuncii.ro/titlul_3/capitolul_3_1.html

> (5) In cazul in care programarea concediilor se face fractionat, angajatorul este obligat sa stabileasca programarea astfel incat fiecare salariat sa efectueze intr-un an calendaristic cel putin 10 zile lucratoare de concediu neintrerupt.

"at least 10 working days of non-interrupted leave"

Of course, this is not always enforced, but many countries to have it as part of the labor code.

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#114

Post by klabb3 »

robertlagrant wrote: post #104
lotsofpulp wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You don't see too many banks collapsing, don't you? When it happens, its a big deal like with the SVB earlier last year. "Moderating risk" = depending on the US federal government bail you out? There really is no need for the charade of banks now that electronic databases are very solid technology. Their whole role in transmitting and keeping an account of money is surely reproducible by the federal government at ve…

> Their whole role in transmitting and keeping an account of money is surely reproducible by the federal government at very little cost (maybe even lower cost due to not needing FDIC and all that infrastructure) without having to pay a middleman. Banks don't store money. They connect money to businesses in a structured way. No banks means businesses won't get created.

Sounds like it could be a variation of the office space skit:

So what would you say you do here at the business factory?

[…]

I connect the money with the businesses because businesses are not good at dealing with money! I have people skills, can’t you see that?

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#115

Post by aaron695 »

tiborsaas wrote: post #86

> He removed the face plate from the ticket machines, which as a repairman would raise no suspicion, then rigged a car antenna with a magnetic tip, like a make-shift fishing rod. Coin-by-coin, Kara hooked his catch out of the ticketing machine cash box into a shaving bag, which acted as his keep net. I can't picture how his rig worked, the article would have benefitted by anything visual help :/

It'll be fake and he just broke in, maybe legally it was better to not have 'broke' anything but this was how he started it all.

Do the napkin math -

1. There was no AliExpress to get amazing magnets from, and there were no amazing magnets.

Average of $3k / week

$3000 / 6 days working / 8 hours = $62.5 per hour

Personally I get rid of lower coins into machines. So lets say 4 coins to get $1. He's pulling out 200 coins a hour? And doing his job. And no one sees him pulling up and down 4 time a minute for hours on end?

-------------------------------

Segway -

On the evening of Sept. 29 1994, Constable Ken Chatel, a member of the RCMP Customs and Excise Section in Edmonton leaned back in his chair to catch the six o'clock news.

One of the items that evening covered a police search of the home of Salim Kara, a city transit employee who was charged with stealing in excess of $2 million dollars from Light Rail Transit coffers.

As the camera panned the interior of the opulent residence on Osborne Crescent, several objects caught Chatel's eye and made him lean forward with renewed interest.

The camera revealed two zebra skins on the walls and a three­foot carved tusk in a display cabinet. Depending upon the species of animal each item represented, it was possible that they were protected by international legislation.

https://www.gamewarden.ab.ca/agwmagazine/1996/summer%201996/...

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#116

Post by Waterluvian »

“ Sooner or later, the temptation to spend became too much and maybe thinking he would never get caught in 1992, Kara decided to trade up from his modest $136,000 home to something much more fitting of a vending-machine millionaire.”

Well… what’s the point of stealing money if you can’t ever spend it?

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#117

Post by Waterluvian »

Freak_NL wrote: post #9

A curious thing here is that, if this article is correct, the man spent 16 months in prison, and had repaid the amount stolen by then. It seems reasonable to assume that if he had not invested his stolen money in real estate he would not have been able to repay his debt to society so cleanly. I wonder if in the end he didn't make a sizeable profit from all of this.

He likely paid interest on the money too. That interest is part of what he stole.

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#118

Post by throwawaymaths »

ilammy wrote: post #99
nicgrev103 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how many people know this is what the bank is doing with their deposits, making consent difficult.

Usually people don't care what the bank does because they consent to the government making them whole in case the bank fails to return the deposit.

Well, not really. Do people consent when politicians reallocate their taxes to bail out too "large to fail" institutions? Given the protests, I think not. What if you didn't vote for the candidate that voted in the bailout? What if you specifically didn't vote (or voted for an opponent of) that policymaker. That's actually anti-consent

Re: Salim Kara stole $2M in coins with a magnet and a car antenna (2022)

#120

Post by toyg »

Waterluvian wrote: post #116

“ Sooner or later, the temptation to spend became too much and maybe thinking he would never get caught in 1992, Kara decided to trade up from his modest $136,000 home to something much more fitting of a vending-machine millionaire.” Well… what’s the point of stealing money if you can’t ever spend it?

As anyone who watched The Wire knows, thanks to Stringer Bell's pitch to Marlo Stanfield, "they turn your things against you, that's how they get you".

Conspicuous consumption is bound to trigger alarms. The smart wealth makes itself as invisible as possible, and typically plans generational succession instead.

If you really want to enjoy your riches, you better build all sorts of deniability layers first, or do it as part of retirement from the game. If this guy had dismantled the hack, left the job and retired to a Florida mansion, he wouldn't have been caught.

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