Following the Money Trail, Hacking a Bank without Hacking a Bank Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Switch to: Outline Standard Switch to: Linear+

[Nightfalke]

So a target of mine in a run is a sexy little MILF living in a gated community in Bellvue. We know she is somehow funding a Humanis group, but we're not entirely sure how.

What I'm trying to figure out is how can we figure out where her (or more likely, her husband's) money is going without trying to bust into an ultra secure bank's matrix system...

Thoughts? I'd like to avoid using lead-pipe hacking, if possible...

[hobgoblin]

maybe make some credit rating requests, via a fake card company front?

[Blade]

The biggest problem with bank hacking, for a skilled hacker, is not to get inside. It's not even to get out. It's to get away with it. But as long as you don't touch the money itself, that should be ok.
Maybe you could hack the weakest link: the target's commlink. You could find some personal data that could help you impersonate the target and get access to her accounts.

Social Engineering could also work: you could impersonate agents from an official agency that has the rights to see the account.

[Ephiral]

Honestly, the only real approaches are hacking, social engineering, strong-arming, or some mix of the above. The trick is to choose the weak targets - hack his commlink instead of the bank, engineer a teller who deals with hundreds of people a day instead of the mark, etc. My team's likely approach is behind the spoiler tags. Warning: It's long and kinda involved.

[ Spoiler ]

Given no time constraints: Start by getting close to him unobserved. Gather all the data you can - fingerprints, gait analysis, and facial scans are the bare minimum. DNA is better. Retinal would be ideal, but is admittedly hard to get inconspicuously. While you're there, hack his crap-security retail commlink. Get in unnoticed, and do nothing but listen - maybe have it quietly call a drop box when it calls or physically approaches the bank. Here it splits depending on how things go.

If he's contacting the bank electronically - well, monitor the data. (Yes, banks use encryption, but you're on the end where it gets decrypted. Convenient, that.) You're now in with a legit account. Buy a disposable commlink, handle it only with gloves, stick it in a microwave when you're done, and collect payment.

If he actually goes to the bank in person - Listen to everything. Key points will include the security details he needs to verify (signature, password, biometrics, a specific credstick, etc), the names of any regular contacts (probably first names only, though you'll have an idea of what they do), and the general flow of the transaction. Visual details and any other sensors in his PAN are an added bonus, but don't count on them. I'm assuming you won't be so lucky as to actually hear him make a donation to Humanis. Now, there's a hard, dangerous, but potentially-high-payoff way of doing this, and an easy, low-risk version that will get you the bare minimum of what you need. Alternatives for both are noted in steps 3 and 4.

Step 2: Have one of your runners enter the bank incognito. Ask questions about opening an investment account, ideally of a type similr to what the target has. Your main goal here is to get eyes on the people your mark contacts - facial scans and nametags are all you really need, but more data is always better.

Step 3 is to refine the data. Take those names and faces, and plug 'em through a data search. (I'm assuming you know how to anonymize this properly.) These are all law-abiding citizens with the future-equivalent of Facebook pages, so it shouldn't be hard. Build a dossier. Your goal is to know their general psychology and enough talking points to sound familiar with them. If you're taking the easy out, their days off are a good idea too.

Step 4. With the incredible amounts of info you've gathered, take the most-social person you've got with soemthing approaching the right build, and be the target. Walk right into the bank, verify his security details. If you want to half-ass it and minimize your risk, just go to a teller that he doesn't normally contact (use those days off to avoid so much as being seen by anyone he knows), ask for an account statement covering the last month, and analyze the hell out of it. If you want to get cinematic and go for the big payout, go to his usual people. If he needs a specific credstick, say you've misplaced it and ask that they flag it stolen. (This is probably the single most dangerous part of the run.) Get that account statement, and while you're there, siphon off the largest amount you don't think will raise eyebrows to a throwaway holding account. About five minutes after you leave, call the bank from your disposable commlink (spoofing his commcode, of course), and say you found the credstick in your car, so they can clear the theft flag. Use a secure method to retrieve and launder your funds, and fade.

[Fix-it]

The biggest problem with bank hacking, for a skilled hacker, is not to get inside. It's not even to get out. It's to get away with it. But as long as you don't touch the money itself, that should be ok.
Maybe you could hack the weakest link: the target's commlink. You could find some personal data that could help you impersonate the target and get access to her accounts.

Social Engineering could also work: you could impersonate agents from an official agency that has the rights to see the account.

this. the weak link is probably your target's commlink. get a tap in there for the long term to record all the transactions she makes.

doesn't help if you need to do it quickly though.

[Jaid]

hacking the target's commlink is all well and good, but it still leaves the fact that the target won't have the datatrail... you would have to know who the account they're transferring funds to belongs to, and do the same for that person. then, potentially, find out who the account they're transferring to belongs to, etc, etc, etc (assuming it isn't all just one series of electronic transfers.)

ultimately, hacking the bank is likely to be a requirement. alternately, you could attempt to use other methods; divination or info sortilege, or a resonance realm trip, if you have access to any appropriately initiated/submerged magicians/TMs.

[Ephiral]

hacking the target's commlink is all well and good, but it still leaves the fact that the target won't have the datatrail... you would have to know who the account they're transferring funds to belongs to, and do the same for that person. then, potentially, find out who the account they're transferring to belongs to, etc, etc, etc (assuming it isn't all just one series of electronic transfers.)

ultimately, hacking the bank is likely to be a requirement. alternately, you could attempt to use other methods; divination or info sortilege, or a resonance realm trip, if you have access to any appropriately initiated/submerged magicians/TMs.

Assuming they're actively trying to keep the money trail hidden, why would the bank have any more information? I'd actually expect it to have less - just an account number, a bank name, and the appropriate routing information. There's no way they're keeping dirty money in a single bank, especially when shadow banks exist. On the other hand, his commlink gives you access to his schedule, most of his electronic comms, and quite possibly everything he says and everywhere he goes. It's a far less risky and far more informative proposition.

[Jaid]

it may give you far more information in general, but is it going to give you more information about the money trail?

[Ascalaphus]

Pick a well-placed bank employee (not management, just data entry staff or accountancy or something) with access to the data you want; bribe/blackmail/seduce/mind-control said employee into giving you the data.

And remember: waiting for someone to do something worth blackmailing is lazy; set them up to do such a thing where you can properly record it.

[hobgoblin]

Assuming they're actively trying to keep the money trail hidden, why would the bank have any more information? I'd actually expect it to have less - just an account number, a bank name, and the appropriate routing information. There's no way they're keeping dirty money in a single bank, especially when shadow banks exist. On the other hand, his commlink gives you access to his schedule, most of his electronic comms, and quite possibly everything he says and everywhere he goes. It's a far less risky and far more informative proposition.

one way to mask the trail could be to buy physical goods (metals perhaps) and then give those to some middleman that would then go about selling the goods and hand the sum on to the third party.

and while thinking about that i got reminded of the wine bank that showed up in season two of gits:sac.

i suspect shadow banks would operate on that kind of principle. basically turning the cash into some common yet valued product, and storing said product until the account holder found the need to access the account.

[JoelHalpern]

A lot of this will depend upon how careful the target, and the receivers, were being.
Given time (sufficient hours) and a good stealth 6, by the rules you can problaby get in and examine the bank.
But, if they were careful, that just won't help much.
If they transferred the money to a certified credstick, which was handed to a middleman who moved the money to other certified credsticks, which were then sent to a different person / bank, then you have an almost impossible tracing job to do.

If you know who the middleman is, know what accounts in the target you think the money was transferred to, and can do a LOT of correlation (a technomancer with access to information sortiledge, maybe), then it might be possible to correlate all the pieces.

Alternatively, you as story-teller can choose to have them behave less carefully.
But the records on the target's Commlink really are just a start.

Yours,
Joel

[BRodda]

So a target of mine in a run is a sexy little MILF living in a gated community in Bellvue. We know she is somehow funding a Humanis group, but we're not entirely sure how.

What I'm trying to figure out is how can we figure out where her (or more likely, her husband's) money is going without trying to bust into an ultra secure bank's matrix system...

Thoughts? I'd like to avoid using lead-pipe hacking, if possible...

They way I think it would work would be:

Stealth so your not spotted.
Stay near the target and run Scan.
Whenever you spot out going traffic Trace. When you get to a new node (if they are bouncing the signal) just run a Scan and Trace again.
Repeat until you have the details of the final destination.

I'm assuming that you just want to know the who/where and not the how much. Trying to alter or intercept the signal is a lot more difficult then just trying to follow it.

More stealthy too. If you screw up chances are that they won't notice you.

[ravensoracle]

Step one is definitely hacking their comms. You're going to get a lot of data with doing that. If you have time keep the hack going and feeding you information. Install some sort of keylogger type program. Turn on the mic and camera on the comm and you have your own personal tap on all of their actions while they are near than comm. Bugging the comm long enough is going to get you the information you need. I mean you'll eventually get the login information to her bank accounts.

Then forget all the huge operations of impersonating someone and hitting the bank. Once you have the passwords and such needed for accessing the accounts simply use the comm to request a statement for the last few months. Then hide your tracks so it shows that it never happened. By hacking her comm you pretty much own her. Unless of course she is smart enough to realize how dangerous using a comm for everything you do really is. Even if she is using credsticks and couriers or some elaborate scheme, you'll still have her life laid out before her. Start looking for patterns of behavior. Use the comms GPS to keep tabs on where she's been.

This run is one of those I truely relish. These are what I call the legwork runs. Yeah this run is going to suck for those craving a lot of violent action but it really requires more than just a well aimed punch or fired shot. The whole idea with this run is getting to know every detail of her life.


One thing to keep in mind, if it is taking too long throw some disharmony in the mix. If you know to which group of people the funds are going;
Hit them hard and painfully. Start making random fund transfers between legit accounts. Hack their comms and leave a data trail going to the cops. Throw the marks name into the mix somehow. Perhaps as a focus of the fake investigation. If you really want to mess with their heads get some meta financing and simply drop a credstick with the marks name on it in the apartment of a known Humains leader. Just do something to stir the pot. Just wait to do it until you have gotten to "know" all those involved so you can track their movements. You add a little chaos into the mix and someone is going to panic. Protocols will be forgotten and they start slipping.

[Tsuul]

Somehow she is being told how much and where to 'drop off/wire' the cash.