With each new device released to the public, there are thieves who find ways to use it illegally.
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/09/gang-used-3d-printers-for-atm-skimmers/
An ATM skimmer gang stole more than $400,000 using skimming devices built with the help of high-tech 3D printers, federal prosecutors say....
...The skimmer components typically include a card skimmer that fits over the card acceptance slot and steals the data stored on the card’s magnetic stripe, and a pinhole camera built into a false panel that thieves can fit above or beside the PIN pad. If these components don’t match just-so, they’re more likely to be discovered and removed by customers or bank personnel, leaving the thieves without their stolen card data.
Enter the 3D printer. This fascinating technology, explained succinctly in the video below from 3D printing company i.materialise, takes two dimensional computer images and builds them into three dimensional models by laying down successive layers of powder that are heated, shaped and hardened...
Much more at the link. Check out his entries for Sept 20, 2011 and Dec 7, 2011
The Dec 7, 2011 entry is pretty amazing in the complexity the thieves went to build the skimmer using a 3D printer.