Search

US-20260127950-A1 - CASH TRAP DETECTION

US20260127950A1US 20260127950 A1US20260127950 A1US 20260127950A1US-20260127950-A1

Abstract

A cash trapping monitor apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a monitor printed circuit board (PCB) interposed between a shutter assembly PCB and a dispenser/recycler PCB. The monitor PCB is connected/interfaced to a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor and an ultrasonic sensor both of which are situated behind a shutter blade in a media chute of a media handling device. Blade states reported by the shutter are changed by the monitor PCB before reporting to the dispenser/recycler PCB when distance measurements provided by the sensors indicate a cash trapping device is present in the chute, indicate that the shutter blade is missing, and/or indicate an original shutter blade was replaced with a different shutter blade.

Inventors

  • Shannon Louise McGrath
  • Alexander William Whytock
  • Barry James Allen
  • Dyllon Charles William Dodds
  • Conor Michael Fyfe
  • Greg Robert Harrison
  • Scott Low Coston
  • Gary Alexander Ross

Assignees

  • NCR ATLEOS CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20260106

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . (canceled)
  2. 2 . A method, comprising: detecting a shutter blade state reported by a shutter printed circuit board (PCB) of a shutter assembly; obtaining measurements from a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor and an ultrasonic sensor positioned behind a shutter blade of the shutter assembly; comparing the measurements against expected measurements for a back of the shutter blade; determining whether the measurements correspond to a shutter blade state reported by the shutter PCB; and modifying the shutter blade state reported by the shutter PCB when the measurements do not correspond to the shutter blade state before relaying the shutter blade state to a media handling device PCB.
  3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the modifying further includes changing a reported closed state to an open state when the measurements indicate the shutter blade is opened or missing.
  4. 4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the modifying further includes changing a reported open state to a closed state when the measurements indicate a foreign object is present within a media chute behind the shutter blade.
  5. 5 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising relaying instructions originating from the media handling device PCB to the shutter PCB.
  6. 6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining further includes detecting when an original shutter blade is replaced with a different shutter blade based on the measurements.
  7. 7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining further includes detecting when a false shutter blade is placed behind the shutter blade based on the measurements.
  8. 8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the determining further includes detecting when a false shutter blade is placed in front of the shutter blade outside a media chute based on the measurements.
  9. 9 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the comparing further includes comparing the measurements against known expected distance measurements between the TOF sensor and the ultrasonic sensor and the back of the shutter blade when the shutter blade is in a closed state.
  10. 10 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising causing pre-staged cash within a media chute to be retracted into one or more media cassettes or a purge bin when the measurements do not correspond to the shutter blade state.
  11. 11 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising causing a media handling device associated with the media handling device PCB to shut down for any further media operations when the measurements do not correspond to the shutter blade state.
  12. 12 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the TOF sensor and the ultrasonic sensor are connected in parallel to a monitor PCB that is interposed between the media handling device PCB and the shutter PCB.
  13. 13 . A method, comprising: receiving distance measurements from sensors situated within a media chute behind a shutter blade of a shutter assembly associated with a transaction terminal; determining whether a cash trapping device is present based on the distance measurements; raising a security alert when the cash trapping device is detected; and causing a media handling device to cancel a media dispense operation and retract pre-staged cash from the media chute.
  14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the determining further includes comparing the distance measurements against preconfigured distance measurements for when the shutter blade is closed with no foreign objects.
  15. 15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the sensors include a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor and an ultrasonic sensor.
  16. 16 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising dispatching a service engineer to the transaction terminal for inspection of the shutter blade and the media chute in response to the security alert.
  17. 17 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising disabling the media handling device for any subsequent media operations until the cash trapping device is removed.
  18. 18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the determining further includes detecting when the shutter blade is broken off or missing.
  19. 19 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising activating a camera peripheral device to capture video of an area adjacent to the transaction terminal in response to the security alert.
  20. 20 . A system, comprising: a media handling device comprising a shutter assembly, a monitor printed circuit board (PCB), a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor; the monitor PCB interposed between a media handling device PCB and a shutter PCB of the shutter assembly; and the TOF sensor and the ultrasonic sensor situated within a media chute behind a shutter blade and connected to the monitor PCB; wherein the monitor PCB is configured to relay communications between the media handling device PCB and the shutter PCB, receive measurements from the TOF sensor and the ultrasonic sensor, inspect shutter blade states reported by the shutter PCB, and change the shutter blade states before reporting to the media handling device PCB when the measurements indicate a cash trapping device is present.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/373,503, filed Sep. 27, 2023, which application and publication is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND Media handling devices, such as automated teller machines (ATMs) have a variety of different modules one of which is a shutter module. Often, ATMs stage cash withdrawals behind a shutter blade of the shutter module until a customer withdraws their bank card used to perform a withdrawal transaction. Once the customer removes their card from a card module of the ATM, the shutter blade opens, and the cash is dispensed to the customer. When the card is not withdrawn after a configurable period of elapsed time, the ATM assumes the transaction was canceled and moves the pre-staged cash back into cash cassettes of the ATM; the customer's transaction is canceled, and no currency is debited from the card account associated with the transaction. In a few locations, when the transaction is canceled, the cash remains pre-staged until a next transaction at which point the cash is moved back to the cash cassettes. Thieves have discovered a variety of mechanisms to exploit the pre-staged cash behind the shutter's blade. For example, the shutter blade can be broken off, the cash grabbed before the cash can be transported back to the cassettes. As another example, false shutter blade can be fitted in front of the actual shutter blade with glue or sticky material on a backside of the false shutter blade to stick pre-staged cash to the backside; a customer sees the frontside of the false shutter blade and thinks the withdrawal transaction failed because the false shutter blade never opens during the transaction; the thieves subsequently remove the false shutter blade and take the previous customer's cash stuck to the backside of the false shutter blade. In fact, there are a variety of additional scenarios used by thieves, such as replacing the shutter blade entirely with a false shutter blade, sticking the false shutter blade behind the actual shutter blade, etc. SUMMARY In various embodiments, a system, an apparatus, a transaction terminal, and a method for detecting cash trapping attacks are presented. In an embodiment, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a monitor printed circuit board (PCB) interfaced to a time-of-flight (TOF) sensor and an ultrasonic sensor. The sensors provide measurements captured from emitted infrared (IR) light and emitted ultrasonic sound waves that reflect back from a backside of an expected shutter blade. When a false shutter blade is present or when the shutter blade is missing entirely based on the measurements, monitor firmware/software of the monitor PCB raises a security alert to a media handling device, such as a dispenser and/or recycler. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for cash trap detection, according to an example embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a shutter monitor apparatus for cash trap detection, according to an example embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram of a transaction terminal with a media handling device that includes the shutter monitor apparatus, according to an example embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram of a method for detecting cash trapping activities, according to an example embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Typically, a shutter module/assembly includes a sensor to report to the ATM when the shutter blade is opened and closed. However, the sensor does not activate when the shutter blade is broken off. Additionally, a false shutter blade is not detected by the sensor such that the sensor continues to report opened and closed states for the existing shutter blade even through a false shutter blade remains closed. Still further, the sensor cannot distinguish between an expected shutter blade and a false shutter blade. As a result, and for any of the above-discussed cash trapping attacks, the shutter module continues to report incorrect shutter states to the ATM. Thus, thieves are taking advantage of these security holes in ATM technology. As used herein, the phrases “shutter assembly,” “shutter apparatus,” and “shutter module” may be used interchangeably and synonymously. This refers to the electromechanical, hardware, and firmware/software of a shutter system for a media handling device. The shutter system is responsible for accepting and dispensing media, such as currency, for deposits and withdrawals through a slot located behind a shutter blade that is opened and closed to receive currency deposits and/or dispense currency. The terms “media,” “media item,” “banknotes,” “notes,” “currency,” “checks,” and/or “cash” are used synonymously and interchangeably herein and below. These terms refer to the media being transported to, from, and within a deposit and dispense module of a media handling device during a media operation being processed. In an embodiment, the “media operations” include depositing