Cash trapping drives 69% increase in European ATM fraud attacks

Oct. 18, 2011 - PRLog -- Total incidents increased from 6,649 in the first six months of 2010, to 11,220 for the first six months of 2011 (of which 6,756 were due to cash trapping).  During a cash trapping attack criminals prevent cash from a genuine transaction being dispensed – and then remove it when the cardholder has left the ATM.  Over the same period incidences of card skimming fell by 33% to the lowest level since 2008.

Losses due to ATM related fraud attacks have fallen by 28% from €144 million to €112 million. This fall is driven by a continued reduction in losses due to card skimming attacks, which fell 22% from €143 million to €111 million.  

EAST Director and Coordinator Lachlan Gunn said, "While there has been a significant surge in cash trapping activity, related losses were less than €0.5million, or just 0.4% of total reported fraud related losses.  While some cash trapping losses may not have been reported, criminals are limited to actual customer withdrawal amounts for this form of attack. The increase in cash trapping activity almost certainly reflects the success of European ATM deployers and card issuers in tackling skimming related crime, for which reported losses have fallen for the past seven reporting periods.  Criminals may be shifting their focus as cash trapping can succeed in the EMV or Chip and PIN environment, although counter-measures are being rolled out.”

The majority (77%) of ATM related card skimming losses continue to be international (losses outside national borders by criminals using stolen card details) with most occurring in countries outside of Europe.  The risk of counterfeit EMV cards being used to withdraw cash fraudulently from ATMs in parts of the world that are not EMV compliant remains high and is leading some European card issuers to implement additional security measures such as regional card blocking.  

Physical attacks on European ATMs, have fallen by 21% when compared with the first six months of 2010 (down from 1,087 to 857 incidents).  Despite this fall in the overall number of incidents the number of reported explosive and gas attacks (219) has gone up for the third successive reporting period, and is up 90% when compared to the first six months of 2010.  Overall losses fell 13% to €14 million (down from €16 million for the first 6 months of 2010).  

*EMV (also known as ‘chip and PIN’) is an industry standard for Smart Cards and card readers, supported by the European Payments Council and the major payment schemes

The full report, with breakdowns for each crime category, is available to EAST subscribers on the EAST website https://www.european-atm-security.eu

ENDS

(Background data on the report & EAST follow)

For further information and a PDF copy of the report (Media only) please contact the EAST Coordinator, Lachlan Gunn:      Email coordinator@eas-team.eu    Tel: + 44 131 5100268

EUROPEAN ATM CRIME REPORT 2011, Period: January to December 2011

The above release is based on a report prepared twice-yearly by EAST to provide an overview of the European ATM crime situation for law enforcement officers and EAST members, using statistics provided from 23 European states. The following countries, with an estimated total installed base of 385,457 ATMs, supplied full or partial information for this report:
Austria;  Belgium;  Cyprus;  Czech Republic; Denmark;  Finland;  France;  Germany;  Greece;  Ireland;  Italy;  Liechtenstein;  Luxembourg;  the Netherlands;  Norway;  Poland;  Portugal;  Romania;  Slovakia;  Spain;  Sweden;  Switzerland;  the United Kingdom.

EAST intends to obtain such information from all 27 European Union states as well as from Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.  

EAST has taken reasonable measures to develop the report this press release is based on and to report in a fair, reasonable, open, and objective manner.  However, EAST makes no claims, promises, or guarantees about the completeness of the underlying data.  In addition, as the information in the report has been passed to EAST by other parties, errors or mistakes may exist or be discovered.  Neither EAST nor its members, authors, or agents shall be liable for any loss, damage, or claim with respect to any such information being provided.  All such liabilities, including direct, special, indirect, or consequential damages, are expressly disclaimed and excluded.

ABOUT EAST

Founded in 2004, EAST is a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation whose members are committed to gathering information from, and disseminating EAST reports to ATM deployers and networks within their countries/regions. While the main focus of EAST is on ATMs, the group also focuses on all payment terminals that have a direct impact on crime perpetrated at ATM locations.

Our mission is to gather and provide information to the European ATM industry and to facilitate effective representation of ATM related security issues at relevant European central institutions, through a pan-European co-ordination of ATM security resources.

EAST has set up a framework network structure to improve co-operation with industry, law enforcement, and in particular Europol, in order to achieve awareness and better results in the fight against organised cross-border crime.  EAST members represent 28 countries with a total deployment of 555,979 ATMs.  More information can be found at https://www.european-atm-security.eu

# # #

The European ATM Security Team (EAST) is a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation that gathers information from, and shares outputs with, ATM deployers and networks. While the main focus is on ATMs, EAST also covers ATM related crime at all payment terminals.