UK computing title The Register says it has alerted Apacs to an underground forum post spotted by Net security firm PrevX that suggests expertise on defeating anti-tampering protection on older Chip & PIN card terminals can be bought for as little as $4000.

One thread, posted in early July, is from someone in the UK asking for information on how to skim Ingenico and Dione Chip-and-PIN machines, followed by a response from someone claiming to offer skimmers a tutorial on how to compromise these devices.

"This Russian guy was offering know-how on how to bypass anti-tampering protection, including schematics and a specialist bluetooth transmitter and receiver for $4,000," Jacques Erasmus, director of research at Prevx told El Reg. "It wasn't a particularly difficult hack and just involves soldering in a few wires to hook up a bluetooth transmitter, which is used to download data from compromised devices onto a laptop running custom software."