Vending machines are an excellent target for hacker attempts. Because they’re usually abandoned for long periods, it’s not difficult for a programmer to track down a window and collect free information or even cash. In contrast to the most meticulous attempts to hack vending machines—which typically include a penny and a piece of tape, or even a precise metal slug—both programmers and vending machines have polished the process.
Why vending machines?
Sure, programmers may have to make accommodations. Who doesn’t like free food and drinks? Others could consider the machines to be a test. Current vending machines are designed to withstand ferocious power physical hacks (such as shaking the machine back and forth to shake the items away) and, surprisingly, incorporate computerized logic. Different programmers may be aiming for something more sinister than a few free soft drinks, like the card numbers and PINs of everyone who uses the machine.
How do vending machines get hacked?
Depending on what the programmers want, different strategies are used. In one notable example, a small group of CIA contract workers could get around this by disengaging an organization link during the transaction, preventing the system from verifying that the payment cards they used had any assets. The programmers were able to obtain virtually endless free tidbits due to this, while the vending machine was rendered unsuitable for identifying that no money had been exchanged.
In some situations, machines may be rendered useless in the face of firmware modifications, which can begin with chip and pin cards. A programmer may use a customized card, in the same way they would a regular credit or debit card, install the firmware mod, and then return at a later date to recover all of the card numbers and PINs obtained by the mod in the interim. It’s also possible for programmers to add go-through devices to modify data sent over the machine’s ethernet ports or connect Visa skimmers to the interface.
The Code for Free Nesquik Drinks
If you’re near a coin-operated Nesquik vending machine, use this code for a complimentary beverage the next time you desire cool, refreshing chocolate milk: 44455544455. The numbers refer to the fourth and fifth beverage selection buttons, respectively. Choose your beverage after you’ve contributed them.
The Take-Your-Cash-Back Trick
All you need is paper money and pressing tape if you’re a criminal in a hurry. You attach the video toward one side of the bill and add it into the machine, just like the classic coin-and-string trick (which has been repeatedly proven to be ineffective). Use the well-known take-out approach to get a complimentary beverage once the machine has enlisted the monetary amount. Furthermore, presuming you’re feeling exceptionally nasty, forget about the drinks and snacks and instead push the change button after the machine has enrolled a dollar amount.
Get Free Change Out of Soda Machines
If this is the combination you’re looking for, and you’re near a more established soft drink machine (in this case, Coca-Cola), look no further. When you hear the lovely clunking ring of coin flowing down, press the code 432112311 and then hold down the change switch. This technique is excellent when you’re low on quarters on clothing day.
Set Your Price (e.g., $0) For Pepsi
Do you remember the newer Pepsi machines with the big buttons? Using this ruse, you might be able to get a free beer. This will allow you to pick the price for the beverage, and zero seems like a reasonable price, right?
Trick Conveyor Belt Coke Machines
Because Pepsi isn’t for everyone, if you’re a Coke enthusiast who’s gone through the transport line machines, this one is for you. Insert cash and select your beverage, then place your hand inside the machine and push against the path to confuse it. When it gives you your money back, repeat the process until you have all the beverages you require.
Trick Older Snack & Soda Machines
Like the one in the Coke machine hack, this one requires you to push up on the entryway (or door) at the bottom to make it seem it apportioned nothing when it did. After a brief wait, you can choose anything else or obtain a discount by returning the coin bring component. We tried that, and it didn’t work. Thus, your situation is different.
Trick Gumball Machines into Taking Pennies
While this one was initially designed to spread gumball machines in the United Kingdom, it might work anywhere. Still, you’ll also need a karma cycle (and presumably a more established vending machine). The concept is simple: take a small coin and fold layers of foil around it to appear larger and more valuable.
Use Fake Paper Coins
You can trick a sweets machine with a paper or cardboard coin in a similar way to the tinfoil/tape method, but all else being equal, you’ll need a genuinely old vending machine for this to work (assuming and after everything is said and done. You can also try this with stopping meters; again, most coin instruments are competent in this regard, but who knows for sure.
Have Some Pure Luck
Some older vending machines feature a glitch (which is well-fixed at this time) that will return a torn dollar bill to you while still crediting you for it if a cut Mastercard and a shop card peruser can work together by some miracle.