ATM related skimming losses rise again - mainly outside Europe

Oct. 9, 2012 - PRLog -- The majority of these losses are occurring outside Europe in countries where the EMV* liability shift has not yet been adopted, or where the roll out of EMV compliant ATMs has not yet been completed.  Overall ATM related fraud attacks decreased from 11,220 incidents during the first six months of 2011, to 9,595 for the first six months of 2012.  Skimming attacks now make up just 35% of the European total with cases of card trapping, cash trapping and transaction reversal fraud accounting for the rest.

Losses due to ATM related fraud attacks increased by 17% from €112 million in the first six months of 2011 to €131 million for the same period this year.  Of these losses the vast majority (€128 million) are still due to card skimming.

EAST Director and Coordinator Lachlan Gunn said, "What we are seeing is criminals working harder for less return.  While skimming related losses have risen, they are still well below previous levels and increasingly the criminals are being driven outside Europe to realise them.  This indicates the effectiveness of fraud counter-measures such as anti-skimming solutions and geo-blocking, fraud monitoring and fraud detection.  While incidences of other types of ATM related fraud continue to rise, the losses are very low when compared to skimming.  We are pleased to see that cases of cash trapping, which spiked at this time last year, have now started to decrease due to the roll out of counter-measures.”

ATM related physical attacks on European ATMs have increased by 13% when compared with the first six months of 2011 (up from 857 to 968 incidents), driven by an increase in ram raids and ATM burglary.  The number of reported explosive and gas attacks (194) has fallen by 11% when compared to the same period in 2011.  Overall reported losses due to ATM physical attacks have fallen by 43%, although this is partly due to the fact that some countries, which previously reported such losses, are now no longer able to do so.  

*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 http://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 coordinator@eas-team.eu

EUROPEAN ATM CRIME REPORT H1 2012, Period: January to June 2012
The above release is based on a report prepared twice-yearly by EAST to provide interested parties with an overview of the European ATM crime situation.  It has been produced for EAST National Members, EAST Associate Members and EAST Subscribers, using statistics provided from 22 European states. The following countries, with an estimated total installed base of 390,862 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;  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 ‘non-profit’ organisation whose national 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 national members represent 29 countries with a total deployment of 625,776 ATMs.  More information can be found at http://www.european-atm-security.eu