Supposedly, the ecoATM went live on Friday, in an Omaha furniture store, of all places. Update: It's not a store, it's a mart! Nebraska Furniture Mart. And it's huge!

The process is pretty simple. The cellphone is placed in the ecoATM, scanners judge how terrible you were to your phone over the years, and then you are presented with a quote that can be used as store credit or cash. Cellphone beat up beyond repair? That's OK too: ecoATM cheerfully informs you that the phone will be recycled and that a tree will be planted in your name.

More ecoATMs are slated to appear in other stores over the next few months. Might we suggest a Best Buy or any store that happens to specialize in electronics? Update: Nebraska Furniture Mart, which is apparently huge, specializes in furniture and electronics. The world makes sense again. [CrunchGear]

Let me reiterate: Card skimmers are not cute hacks or experiments. They're illegal devices used to steal money from innocent people, and anyone who makes, uses, buys or encourages the use of them belongs in jail. Tellingly, the first related video on YouTube is called "Pin Pad Thief Sentencing." I realize that by writing about these dorks I'm giving them publicity, but I'm hoping that publicity only results in something very, very bad happening to them. [YouTube]

According to authorities, no one has claimed ownership of the reptile just yet, but you can't really blame the owner: he or she will be punished for negligence. [Fox Charlotte]

Oh, this is what could go wrong:

The technology uses cameras to detect people tampering with the card slots. Another machine then ejects pepper spray to stun the culprit while police response teams race to the scene.

But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics.

Patrick Wadula, spokesman for the Absa bank, which is piloting the scheme, told the Mail & Guardian Online: "During a routine maintenance check at an Absa ATM in Fish Hoek, the pepper spray device was accidentally activated.

"At the time there were no customers using the ATM. However, the spray spread into the shopping centre where the ATMs are situated."

Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to risk getting a blast of pepper spray in the face if I put my PIN in wrong. [Neatorama]

I can imagine them escaping in the van: "WE ARE RICH!"

And then dividing the booty, later in their lair: "OK, and that will be $25.77 each... hm-mmmmmm."

Oh, the joy.

To elaborate, two thieves decided to rip an ATM from its concrete foundation in downtown Phenix City Alabama using a backhoe (also stolen). The plan was to place the pilfered ATM on a flatbed trailer and haul it away. So far, so good. The only problem is that the machine tumbled off the truck sometime later. Way to heavy to pick up manually, the thieves were forced to leave the ATM on the side of the road.

Both the backhoe and the ATM were recovered, although the thieves remain at large. Needless to say, if you happen to live near Phenix city and you see a backhoe driving down the road with an ATM in the digging bucket, chances are it's these guys trying to redeem themselves. Probably not a good idea to risk it though—we have already seen what can happen for just taking a picture of an ATM. [ledger-enquirer via Twitter]

Recently, four Romanians living in Florida have been charged for stealing $1.8 million from banks all around New York, including New York City, Cicero and Rochester. Most of the millions had been wired to Eastern Europe already when then culprits were arrested, yet if convicted, they can face up to 15 years each in federal prison. What's more unnerving is that although these four had been caught, there are still more card-skimming fiends in New York that have yet to be identified.

Using magnetic card-skimmers and pin-hole cameras attached to Sovereign Bank ATMs, a band of identity thieves managed to create enough fake-ATM cards to steal more than half a million dollars from over 250 victims all over Staten Island.

"This crew is sophiscated," Deputy Inspector Gregory Antonsen said, "And they're coming up with new ways to steal your identity every day."

Bottom line: Watch your back and see what to look for to further protect your money and your safety. [Syracuse via Consumerist via Fox News via Daily News via Switched]

We want you to take photos of card skimmers you stumble across while getting cash. To spot these crime-ridden machines, here are a few things to look for:
• Ill-fitted card slots
• More than one mirror (some actually may have two mirrors)
• Suspicious lighting
• Unusual ATM error messages
• Difficulty inserting or removing your ATM card.
• If there are other ATMs around, compare them side-to-side, if one of them looks unusual, it's time to pull out your cameras.

Take photos of them in—camouflaged (or not) on the ATM—and then e-mail them to us at tips@gizmodo.com with the subject line "Card Skimmer Beatdown." Please don't forget to contact the authorities/bank managers before you leave. In the war between card skimmers and Gizmodo readers, it's time to fight back.

Sean Seibel was inside a local Chase bank where he inserted his ATM card into one of two side-by-side automatic teller machines. When the machine told him it could not read his card, it took him a bit of jiggling to get his card back. He tried it a couple more times and got the same results. Before trying the other machine, he inspected the slot of the current ATM he was using and realized that it had a false plastic cover attached to the slot. The amazing thing about the cover was that the translucent green plastic matched the card reader slot perfectly, meaning that it was made specifically for Chase ATMs. After snapping a few photos with his iPhone, he alerted the branch manager and explained what happened.

As he was leaving, Seibel remembered reading about card skimmers having small cameras in the proximity in order to read PIN pad activity, so naturally, he went back to the ATM to inspect, which is where he found an extra mirror attached to the vandalized machine that the other ATMs didn't have. Drilled into the mirror was a tiny pinhole with a camera inside, directed at the PIN pad. Seibel alerted the branch manager again and asked Chase why they hadn't inspected the ATM after he had warned them the first time. Chase honestly replied that they hadn't thought of it because they had never encountered that sort of thing before.

From the crazy amounts of feedback we received last night after we posted the first story, it seems that card skimmers are a common crime everywhere from Thailand to Mexico. But actually hearing about it happening to our very own readers here in America makes us want to help get the word out. Seibel says it best: "Take this as a warning and please inspect every ATM machine you use, no matter how secure you think the environment is." [Thanks Sean!]

Consumerist reader, Dan, was at a local WaMu ATM getting cash when he realized something didn't feel quite right. After examining the money machine, he realized there was a card skimmer in the slot. Immediately, he ripped it off—which was probably quite easy seeing that it looks to be held together by masking tape—and took pictures of it before contacting Washing Mutual and the authorities. Surprisingly, the police admitted that this was the first time they had ever seen a card skimmer before. One mystery down, and so many more to go. What's next? I'm banking on exotic, hungry, and extremely poisonous spiders hiding in your toilet. [Consumerist via BBG]

The three men were specialized in cloning credit cards at ATMs, always with the same method. As you can see in the video, the first opens one of the machines, then another one comes to help him with the installation of a black Eee PC. Then they always proceeded to disable the rest of the machines, so clients were forced to use the rigged ATM. All this while they were being recorded by bank security cameras, of course.

The bank manager noticed that the door was forced and all the ATMs were disabled except for one, so he checked the security video and discovered what happened the night before. He immediately alerted the police, who started to search among the usual suspects. It didn't last long: Idiotic Crook Number One went to a police station to denounce a car accident and the three of them—who had a previous criminal history for bank assault in other parts of the country—were aprehended shortly thereafter. [Globo TV—thanks Rafael]

Ever wonder what the legal repercussions would be if this actually happened to you? Says the article:

Police said those who had benefited could face charges but only if the operator complained.

Regardless, you know there are probably dudes in northern England going around taking the max amount out of every other ATM they can find, hoping that the magical malfunction will return. By the way, doesn't this makes you wonder why governments look to ATM makers to build electronic voting machines? [Reuters]

It's actually a handheld ATM in that it's an actual ATM, which means that you can do everything that you can at a normal ATM but on the go (except withdraw cash). Why you would want to pay your bills, transfer money between accounts, or "request money from other people" on a handheld ATM is anyone's guess, but we suppose BlingNation has some plans for it that we don't quite understand. Couple that with the cost of $100 and monthly fees, it's unlikely that anyone would want to use this at home (where they have a computer already to handle banking needs) or on the go. [Inventorspot]

Wait a minute, what the hell? Dogs using ATM machines? What if they eat the money? And what about touchscreen ATMs, do those react well to paws? And can a dog really stick a card into the slot using just their mouths? So many questions, so few answers. I guess we'll just have to be satisfied with the absolutely amazing photo above until more info comes in. –Adam Frucci

Metro UK [via Coolest Gadgets]

A footnote to the story: this ATM was handing out four times the amount people requested for nine days before one honest woman fessed up, admitting she had received more money than she should have. What would you do? – Charlie White (Thanks, Jaan!)

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Hacking an ATM Machine [Hack 247]

• Dartmouth researchers have created the world's teeniest robot (200 of them would fit on an M&M) while University of Pennsylvania scientists have developed a portable power plant for emergency workers and, more likely, commuters with way too many gadgets in their pockets.
  [New York Times (reg)]
  [New York Times (reg)]
  
• Almost 16 years after Crazy Eddie crashed and burned (their prices were insane; their accountant was insanely creative), investors in the crooked consumer electronics chain will finally start to see checks resulting from all of the class action lawsuits.
  [Star Ledger]
  
• Fingerprint-reading ATMs won't be appearing stateside anytime soon, but if you're anxious to see them in action, head south to Colombia. [Chicago Tribune]
  
• Machinima (film production using videogame characters and scenery) is cheap, hip, and about to jump the shark now that everyone from Hollywood to Madison Avenue has noticed. [LA Times (reg)].
  
• Gadgets have taken over Toy Industry Association's influential Hot Dozen holiday gift list. I still don't see the appeal of the iZ, but just between you and me, I wouldn't mind checking out that Pixel Chix toy.[Houston Chronicle].