ATM Security & Fraud Prevention

ATM Gas attacks are a problem for Europe - Is the USA next?

2015-01-29T19:42:00.001+00:00

In April 2013 information of the first ATM explosive gas attack seen in the UK was posted on this blog. The European ATM Security Team (EAST) has been reporting statistics for such attacks since 2005, and the chart below shows a significant increase from 2009 to 2013.

Since April 2013 over 90 gas attacks have been reported in the UK alone.

On 27 January 2015 an article on ATM gas attacks was published by Bloomberg - giving excellent detail on the UK problem and wondering if the USA might be next?

In May 2014 EAST launched a new Expert Group, the EAST Expert Group on ATM Physical Attacks (EGAP) and EGAP is giving special focus to the gas attack problem.

In November 2014 EAST upgraded their website and in April of this year the Group will publish updated fraud and crime statistics covering the full year 2014.

ATM Malware reaches Western Europe

2014-11-18T21:08:00.001+00:00

In a European ATM Crime Report covering H1 2014 (January to June) the European ATM Security Team (EAST) reported an estimated 20 incidents of ATM Malware. These were ‘cash out’ or ‘jackpotting’ attacks and all occurred on the same ATM type from a single ATM deployer in one country. While many ATM Malware attacks have been seen over the past few years in Russia, Ukraine and parts of Latin America, this is the first time that such attacks have been reported in Western Europe.

The good news is that there was a 42% overall decrease in ATM related fraud attacks, when compared to the same period in 2013. For the first time card trapping incidents were in the majority with 2,579 such incidents reported, up 49% from the 1,735 incidents reported in H1 2013. Card skimming incidents fell by 21% (continuation of a downward trend that started in 2010), cash trapping attacks by 52% and incidences of transaction reversal fraud by 96%.

The full Crime Report is only available to EAST Members and subscribers, but the press release can be seen on the EAST website.

ATM criminals increasingly use thin insert skimmers

2014-08-22T08:54:00.000+01:00

Picture courtesy of EAST

The European ATM Security Team (EAST) has been reporting the usage of insert skimmers at European ATMs for some time now. In a Fraud update published last month they stated that a new form of mini-skimmer was reported by one country, specially adapted to fit the card reader of one ATM type. This mini-skimmer, which can be seen in the image to the right, was used in conjunction with a new style of video camera for PIN compromise.

Picture courtesy of KrebsOnSecurity

Yesterday Brian Krebs published an article illustrating the use of a different mini-skimmer first reported by EAST in an ATM Fraud alert published earlier this month (see image). Insert or inlay skimmers are introduced into the card reader throat by criminals and are difficult to detect.

Card skimming at European ATMs hits a six year low - but explosive attacks are rising

2014-04-09T12:09:00.000+01:00

The European ATM Security Team (EAST) has reported another fall in ATM related card skimming incidents, while card trapping incidents and ATM explosive attacks continue to rise. A summary of the statistics can be seen in the image below.

There has been a 5% decrease in ATM related fraud attacks, down from 22,450 to 21,346 in 2013. 5,822 card skimming incidents were reported, down by 19% from the 7,184 incidents reported in 2012. Skimming incidents have now fallen for three successive years and are down 45% from the high of 10,497 incidents reported in 2008. Card trapping incidents increased 98% (up from 2,726 to 5,394 in 2013). Trapped cards can be used in the EMV environment (if the PIN has also been compromised).

ATM related physical attacks increased by 9% when compared with 2012 (up from 1,920 to 2,102 incidents), driven by a 31% increase in reported solid explosive and explosive gas attacks. 696 such attacks were reported, the fifth successive annual increase and up from a low point of 117 attacks in 2008. Eleven countries reported such attacks, five of them countries with more than 40,000 ATMs installed.

Read the full press release on the EAST website.

ACCA USA publishes Report on Skimmer Fraud

2014-02-20T09:52:00.000+00:00

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the USA has published a new research report entitled “Skimming the Surface – How Skimmer Fraud Has Become a Global Epidemic”. The report was produced by Pace University, sponsored by ACCA USA.

The report’s author, Dr Darren R. Hayes of Pace University, attended the first global conference of the European ATM Security Team (EAST), the EAST Financial Crime and Security (FCS) Forum, in June 2013.and EAST and its members subsequently assisted with research.

The report provides examples from across the globe to highlight skimming growth and scope, and offers recommendations for institutions and individuals to combat such activities. It focuses on devices that read and record data from consumer payment cards, such as ATM, credit, debit, prepaid and electronic gift cards. “Devices are becoming smaller and have more memory,” Hayes said. “The quality of data on the devices has improved over time, and skimmers often are password protected and use advanced encryption protocols.”

There are 2.2 million ATMs worldwide, which will escalate to more than 3 million by 2016. A new ATM is installed every five minutes. North America has the largest ATM market in the world, with the most – approximately 425,000 – in the United States.

The report recommends that Financial institutions should speed up the integration of anti-skimming solutions and fraud investigations into their daily operations and improve cooperation with national and international law enforcement to keep up with the increased sophistication and global nature of skimmer schemes. It suggests that the future of ATM transactions lies in contactless cards, biometric security, and smartphone withdrawals instead of traditional ATM cards.
research.

The report can be downloaded from the ACCA Website

EC3 helps to dismantle an international network of payment card fraudsters

2014-01-30T19:57:00.001+00:00

Romanian and French law enforcement authorities, supported by the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, have successfully dismantled a Romanian organised crime group involved in international payment card skimming and associated fraud.

During a raid on 17 January 2014, 11 suspects were arrested as they planned to travel to Italy to commit skimming attacks. Among them was the leader of the criminal group as well as the financiers.

In addition, 26 premises were searched and illegal equipment seized. Police also dismantled two factories producing skimming devices, including sophisticated miniaturised versions. This activity followed an earlier week-long surveillance exercise carried out by French and Romanian law enforcement officers.

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website.

Contactless technology for ATMs?

2014-01-28T19:48:00.000+00:00

Contactless technology is already available for ATM cash withdrawals, with some pilot studies in operation. The European ATM Security Team (EAST) ran a website poll on this topic from October to December 2013.

74% of respondents indicated that they would be happy to use this technology (card or smartphone) to make an ATM withdrawal. 67% would happy to do this with a PIN and 7% without a PIN, while 26% indicated that they would not want to use the technology.

The term 'Contactless' refers to the fact that a card does not need to physically make contact with the reader. The information required for the transaction is transmitted from an antenna found in the Contactless card using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. Contactless cards are secured by the same advanced technology that underpins chip and PIN, and PIN entry is required for transactions above a defined limit.

Near field communication (NFC) is a set of standards for smartphones and similar devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, usually no more than a few centimetres. NFC devices can be used in contactless payment systems, similar to those currently used in contactless payment cards, and allow mobile payment to replace or supplement these systems.

The current EAST poll is on Social Engineering at ATMs. To take it, and to see all past results, visit the ATM Research Page on the EAST website.

Five Bulgarians arrested for international payment card fraud

2014-01-28T19:27:00.000+00:00

Polish National Police, working with the State Agency for National Security in Bulgaria and supported by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3), have smashed an international group of payment card fraudsters. Five Bulgarian citizens responsible for misusing financial data from several countries, counterfeiting payment cards and making illegal electronic transactions, were arrested in Poland.

Complete equipment to produce counterfeit bank cards was seized and included mag-stripe readers and writers, computers, phones and flash drives. Police officers also confiscated dozens of forged payment cards with records of PIN numbers, ready to be used at other ATMs, and a vehicle worth over 25,000 euros.

During the investigation, EC3 supported the case by providing tailored intelligence analysis and expertise to the investigators. It was identified that the compromised data came mainly from the United Kingdom. The investigation is still on-going and further arrests in the case are expected as suspects were working with gang members from Eastern Europe.

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website. A video of the equipment seized can be seen on the website of the Polish Police.

International Network of Latvian Payment Card Fraudsters Dismantled

2013-12-05T19:48:00.000+00:00

The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol, working with police in Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom, have taken down a criminal network of Latvian payment card fraudsters and arrested eight key members of the group.

The criminals were involved in compromising financial data during cash machine transactions across several EU and non-EU countries. The group posed a major threat for electronic payments by misusing European payment card data in remote destinations such as Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Thailand and the US.

EC3 provided operational and analytical support for the Operation, codenamed ' FatBoy', as well as coordinating the international investigations. Europol’s support also increased the efficiency of communication and cross-border analysis.

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website

Only 28% of people surveyed protect their PIN at an ATM

2013-11-29T11:48:00.000+00:00

The Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO) has just released the results of a survey of 260 ATM users on the SafeCard website. The results were disappointing - only 28% of the cardholders (including 156 men and 104 women) actually make any effort to shield the PIN pad when keying in their PIN.

IPSO has released edited footage (see below) from a micro-camera recovered after criminals attempted to use skimming equipment at an ATM in Ireland. This shows actual footage as would be seen by the criminals if they retrieved the camera.

The first part shows the criminal fitting the camera to the ATM. We then see a number of genuine cardholders using the ATM including some who cover the PIN pad when keying in their all-important 4-digit private number, but then quite a number who do not. The footage clearly outlines how easy it is for passers-by, or a hidden micro-camera, to see the 4 digits being keyed in by unsuspecting ATM users.

The industry works hard to keep your card and transactions secure. You can help too. The best advice to reduce the risk of your payment card being successfully compromised by criminals is to COVER YOUR PIN when using an ATM or any other payment terminal.

EAST Publishes European Fraud Update 3-2013

2013-11-19T10:50:00.000+00:00

The European ATM Security Team (EAST) has just published its third European Fraud Update for 2013. This is based on country crime updates given by representatives of 19 countries in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), and 3 non-SEPA countries, at the 31st EAST meeting held at Equens SE in Utrecht on 9th October 2013.

Skimming at ATMs was reported by 20 countries, with increases reported by 8 countries and decreases by 6 countries. The usage of fake ATMs for card and PIN compromise has been reported, the first time such a method has been seen by an EAST National Member, and skimming devices placed on ATMs with dip readers appear to be becoming more prevalent.

ATM related skimming losses continue to migrate away from EMV Chip liability shift areas. From January to September 2013 such losses were reported in 38 countries and territories outside of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and in 6 within SEPA. The USA is still the top location for such losses, followed by Thailand and Colombia. For the first time significant losses are being reported in India. European fraud counter-measures such as geo-blocking, fraud monitoring capabilities and fraud detection continue to improve.

Skimming attacks on other terminal types were reported by 13 countries, and there has been an increase in attacks on unattended payment terminals (UPTs) at petrol stations. A major intercontinental network of card fraudsters that carried out attacks on point of sale (POS) terminals has been dismantled in Canada and Europe through a joint police operation. Operation ‘Spyglass’ has so far resulted in the arrest of 29 people.

Cash trapping incidents were reported by 13 countries, with 3 of them reporting related arrests, and 9 countries reported transaction reversal fraud (TRF) incidents. The usage of the cash claw continues for both types of attack.

The trapping of cards at ATMs was reported by 7 countries. Criminals are also using distraction methods to capture cards, typically targeting elderly people. 6 countries reported such attacks. The criminals observe a genuine transaction, note the PIN, and then distract the cardholder to steal the card.

Ram raids and ATM burglary were reported by 10 countries. 9 countries reported explosive gas attacks and two of them also reported attacks on ATMs using solid explosives. The overall rise in explosive attacks in Europe appears to be continuing, and their impact is growing.

The full European Fraud Update is available for download from the EAST Website by EAST Members and EAST Subscribers.

Intercontinental Network of Card Fraudsters Dismantled in Canada and Europe

2013-11-05T15:42:00.000+00:00

A major intercontinental network of card fraudsters has been recently dismantled by cooperating Canadian, French and German police authorities, supported by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3).

Operation ‘Spyglass’ has so far resulted in the arrest of 29 people. The international criminal group was involved in the sophisticated manipulation of point-of-sale (POS) terminals in shopping centres across Europe and North America.

The final arrests on 29 October 2013 were handled by the Economic Crimes Unit of the Sûreté du Québec and took place in Montreal, Laval, Longueuil, Boucherville, Chambly and Magog, and led to the detention of 16 individuals, including the head of the criminal network from Boucherville (Montreal’s South Shore).

13 other arrests in this case took place in March 2013 in France (7) and Germany (6), with Europol’s support. Hundreds of police officers in the EU and Canada were involved in the operation

For more information read the related Press Release on the Europol website

ATM explosive attacks and low tech fraud incidents increase in Europe

2013-10-14T10:32:00.000+01:00

The European ATM Security Team (EAST) has just published a European ATM Crime Report covering the first six months of 2013. This shows significant rises in both low tech fraud incidents and ATM explosive attacks, while card skimming incidents fell again.

The overall increase in low tech fraud incidents is due to a surge in the number of cash trapping and transaction reversal fraud incidents. 7,885 such incidents were reported, up 77% from the 4,464 incidents reported in H1 2012. While both these attack types can succeed in the EMV environment, as normal transactions take place on EMV cards, criminals get less from them than from high tech skimming attacks. The chart below shows an analysis of the overall figures since 2005.

ATM related physical attacks on European ATMs increased by 4% (up from 968 to 1,007 incidents), driven by an increase in solid explosive and explosive gas attacks at ATMs. These attacks rose 74%, from 194 in H1 2012 to 337, with one large country reporting this type of attack for the first time. Such attacks were reported by eight countries, four of them were countries with more than 40,000 ATMs installed.

To counter this EAST will be launching an Expert Group on ATM Physical Attacks (EGAF) in 2014. This follows on from the success of the EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud (EGAF) which was launched this year. To read the whole press release visit the EAST Website. To get the Crime Report it is necessary to subscribe to EAST, or for an (approved) organisation to join EAST as an Associate Member.

Education & Awareness is the best Fraud Prevention weapon

2013-09-12T10:02:00.000+01:00

The European ATM Security Team (EAST) is constantly trying to help the industry to spread the fraud awareness message. Best practice information and links to videos can be found on their Cardholder Security Tips page, and also on their Advice for Merchants page. The clip below is an awareness message from Fiscal Bank in Australia, starring 'Fiscal the Ferret' and 'Bacchus the Bandit'.........

US charges cyber-crooks over US$45 million ATM crime

2013-05-10T15:49:00.000+01:00

US officials have charged 8 people with taking part in two cyber-attacks that resulted in US$45 million of fraudulent cash withdrawals from ATMs in 27 countries. According to the US Justice Department, the gang broke into the computers of two credit card processors, one in India in December 2012 and the other in the United States this February. They hacked data relating to pre-paid cards and then raised the balance limits, before sending the data to cells around the world that cloned the cards and used them fraudulently (with PINs) to withdraw cash from ATMs.

The money was stolen from two Middle Eastern banks. The reported losses have risen significantly since I first commented on the attacks in a post on 7th February 2013. It's interesting to note that, of the 8 US citizens arrested, 7 originated from the Dominican Republic. According to the latest European ATM Crime report published by EAST, the USA and the Dominican Republic are the top two locations for ATM related fraud losses for counterfeit (skimmed) European cards.

This is worrying stuff for US card issuers. Such a scam is not so easy to perpetrate on EMV (Chip and PIN) cards. As a chip is not present on a cloned (counterfeit) EMV card the clone can't be used for ATM cash withdrawals (unless the EMV card issuer allows it and most now don't). Now that the cyber-criminal community has woken up to how easy it is to perpetrate this type of crime against non-EMV cards, their sights are likely to be set on US issued mag-stripe only cards, or non-EMV cards from other countries.

It is good to see that, if convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 10 years' imprisonment on each of the money laundering charges and seven and a half on the conspiracy to commit access device fraud charge, restitution, and up to $250,000 in fines. Nonetheless, criminals like to get easy cash, and this case may well spark copycat cyber-attacks.

At last there is finally an ATM EMV liability shift in the USA!

2013-04-30T08:40:00.001+01:00

The MasterCard EMV liability shift for Maestro debit cards at US ATMs is good news for the rest of the world, where card issuers have long had to put up with huge counterfeit fraud losses in the USA. According to Europol around 80% of non-EU fraud against EU payment cards is committed in the US. Criminals like cash, and ATMs that are not EMV compliant (i.e. perform transactions on magnetic stripes, rather than Chips) allow cash withdrawals on counterfeit EMV cards.

Europe has long led the world in fighting such fraudsters and US acquirers can benefit from the lessons learnt in Europe. The non-profit European ATM Security Team (EAST) has just published a European ATM Crime Report which shows that, for the first time, European fraudsters are being driven away from card skimming to lower tech forms of crime at ATMs. EAST represents ATM deployers and networks in 26 European states, as well as Canada, Russia and Ukraine.

EAST is holding its first global Financial Crime and Security (FCS)Forum in the Hague on 13-14 June 2013, and a key focus of the event is payment card fraud. Experts from Europol and Eurojust are among an impressive line up of speakers. This event has been put together by ATM users (deployers and networks) for ATM users. In addition to European experts, speakers are coming from Canada, Latin America and Russia. MasterCard will be speaking on “ATMs for Contactless Cards and NFC Mobile Acceptance”. ATM acquirers wanting to learn from the European experience would be well-advised to attend.

The implementation of the EMV liability shift for Maestro ATM transactions means that, for the first time, card issuers from other parts of the world who have invested heavily into EMV, as well as into anti-fraud systems and solutions, will be able to chargeback losses to US ATM acquirers if their ATMs are not EMV compliant. According to the European experience 'the devil will take the hindmost', in other words US ATM deployers that quickly invest in EMV upgrades will mitigate the risk of significant fraud chargebacks coming their way. The fraudsters will no doubt quickly work out who the laggards in EMV implementation are, which will compound the problem.

Now the question is when will other schemes follow MasterCard's example? Visa have published a US EMV liability shift deadline of 1st October 2015, but that is not for ATMs, only for point-of-sale (POS) terminals. The clock is ticking...........

Explosive gas hits UK ATMs for the first time

2013-04-03T08:36:00.000+01:00

While ATM explosive gas attacks have been common for many years in parts of Europe, the UK has escaped unscathed - until last week when there was a successful attack on an ATM in a garage in Hampshire. Hampshire police released the video captured by the forecourt CCTV cameras.

A 26 year old man from Bristol, was subsequently arrested on suspicion of theft and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or property.

In April 2011 the European ATM Security Team (EAST) reported that explosive gas attacks were on the increase in Europe, and a related post was put on this blog. EAST is due to publish its 2012 European ATM Crime report later this month and so it will be interesting to see what the European trend now is. Nonetheless, the fact that this type of attack has started in the UK must be of great concern to ATM deployers. While such attacks are typically carried out at quiet times and do not therefore pose a risk to people, there is usually significant collateral damage as well as cash loss.

YouTube video leads to arrest of prolific ATM criminals

2013-03-27T09:58:00.000+00:00

Canadian police recently arrested four people from the notorious Torch Gang, including a father and son, after 130 ATMs in Ontario and Quebec were burned with a blowtorch in a backpack and more than C$1 million in cash was stolen. Despite the suspects wearing balaclavas and gloves, the information provided by the police in the video was sufficient for the men to be identified and arrested.

Is social media the way forward to combat ATM criminals? With more than 60,000 viewings this video seems to have been essential for police.

The Torch Gang were professional, organised and carried out successful ATM attacks in 60 seconds using an oxyacetylene torch. Their first attack took place on 24th October 2010 and they operated widely across the country. To counter them a joint investigation called Project Scorch was initiated. This involved several police forces, including Ottawa police. Halton Police put up the video, which also offered a C$25,000 reward.

William Nolin, Réjean Lavigne, Maxime Lavigne, and Pierre Poirier, have been charged with break and enter, participating in a criminal organization, and possession of break-and-enter instruments. According to Halton Police sources the suspects will also face around 50 additional charges in other jurisdictions.

For more information see a related article in the Ottowa Citizen.

Cyber-crooks steal millions from ATMs using prepaid debit cards in several countries simultaneously

2013-02-07T20:07:00.000+00:00

According to Brian Krebs organised cyber criminals stole almost $11 million in two highly coordinated ATM heists in the final days of 2012. They used re-loadable prepaid debit cards and apparently were able to increase or eliminate the daily withdrawal limits for the prepaid accounts they controlled. The fact that the attackers were able to do this means they had access to the internal systems of a prepaid card network.

Krebs states that, according to his sources, the first incidents took place on 24th December 2012. Using a small number of re-loadable prepaid debit cards tied to accounts that they controlled, fraudsters began withdrawing cash from ATMs in several countries at once. Within hours, they had stolen approximately $9 million. A few days later just before New Year's Eve, they struck again, this time attacking a card network in India and making off with slightly less than $2 million.

This is another jolt for the payment card industry. Krebs reports that in May 2011 Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), the nation’s largest processor of prepaid debit card payments, disclosed that it had been the victim of a similar, $13 million coordinated ATM heist scheme earlier in the year.
Prior to that was the RBS Worldpay case in December 2008 when cash was fraudulently withdrawn from at least 2,100 ATMs in at least 280 cities worldwide.

In 2011 a Russian hacker managed to avoid jail after his arrest in connection with the RBS Worldpay case. To date we do not know which criminal groupings were behind these recent attacks, nor which prepaid card network was compromised. Read the full article on KrebsonSecurity.

Money laundering at ATMs

2013-02-02T11:04:00.001+00:00

Photo courtesy of EAST

Can ATMs be used to launder 'dirty' money back into circulation? If a genuine card is used to make a cash withdrawal from a bank account that has been opened in an environment where there are lax account opening controls, then yes. An account could be opened in one country and fed with 'dirty' money - then a genuine card from that account could be used to make hard currency withdrawals at ATMs in another country up to allowed daily withdrawal limits. The higher the allowed daily limit, the more attractive the country is for criminals. Prepaid cards can be used for the same purpose.

In that context the news that the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is cracking down on local banks that allow VIP customers to make multiple large withdrawals in a single day is welcome. According to an article in Zawya some banks have been allowing wealthy customers to by-pass the SR 5,000 daily withdrawal limit. Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) spawn wealthy customers, who no doubt search the world for places to maximise hard cash withdrawals. In that context, the SAMA initiative is welcome. Hopefully regulators and monetary agencies in other countries will follow suit.

Europe creates a Cybercrime Centre (EC3)

2013-01-19T12:10:00.000+00:00

This month the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) opened in the Hague at Europol. EC3 will be the focal point in the EU’s fight against cybercrime, contributing to faster reactions in the event of online crimes. It will support Member States and the European Union’s institutions in building operational and analytical capacity for investigations and cooperation with international partners.

EC3 is hosted by Europol, the European law enforcement agency and can draw on Europol’s existing infrastructure and law enforcement network. No crime is as borderless as cybercrime, requiring law enforcement authorities to adopt a coordinated and collaborative approach across borders, together with public and private stakeholders alike. It is here that EC3 will add significant value.

Part of EC3's remit is to tackle payment card fraud, which of course has an impact on the ATM Industry. As part of cross-border cooperation between the private and public sectors, the European ATM Security Team (EAST) provides private sector cross-border intelligence and statistics to Europol. Founded in 2004 and with national representation from 29 countries, EAST will be holding its first Financial Crime and Security (FCS) Forum in June 2013 at the World Forum in the Hague. This is open to all ATM stakeholders globally.

Europol supports Geo-Blocking

2013-01-08T17:44:00.000+00:00

Europol has just published a ‘Situation Report on Payment Card Fraud in the European Union’ to coincide with the launch of the European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3). The report which covers 2012, highlights that although overall EU payment card fraud has fallen due to the introduction of EMV (Chip and PIN), whilst the number of payment cards (debit and credit) has risen to over 726 million, international losses (fraud losses outside the EU) continue to rise - and mainly in the USA. The report states that European Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) are making around 1.5 billion euros annually from payment card fraud.

To counter this Europol recommends that the EU take urgent measures to promote the EMV standard as a global solution against the counterfeiting of payment cards. Acknowledging the issues that relate to this, and the amount of time that would be required to implement EMV globally, the reports endorses geo-blocking as a temporary solution - this is the blocking of overseas transactions for EU-issued cards, unless they have been activated in advance. Belgium is cited as ‘best practice’ for this, where the successful introduction of geo-blocking has seen significant falls in skimming incidents and losses.

I have covered geo-blocking in several posts, and the European ATM Security Team (EAST) has been reporting on the increase of geo-blocking in Europe for some time now.

A presentation on geo-blocking in Belgium will be made by Atos Worldline and KBC Bank at the EAST Financial Crime and Security (FCS) Forum on 13/14 June 2013, and Europol will present on the benefits of international cooperation.

European Police Take Down a Major ATM Skimming Operation

2012-12-20T18:32:00.000+00:00

With the support of Europol, 56 suspected members of a major network of payment card fraudsters (38 in Bulgaria, 17 in Italy and 1 in the Netherlands) were arrested in a coordinated raid across Europe.

This major police operation, led by Italy and Bulgaria, was coordinated from the Operational Centre at Europol headquarters in The Hague. Earlier arrests carried out since the investigation started brings the total number of suspects arrested up to 105.

During the successful operation, the key suspects involved in the organised crime group were arrested and an illegal payment card factory, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, raided. In Bulgaria alone, more than 300 police officers were involved and in total 400 officers were active on the day in an operation spanning several European countries.

The now dismantled organised crime group was very sophisticated and behind an advanced and very profitable scam which has affected thousands of card holders in 20 European countries.

Their modus operandi (skimming) involved stealing people’s credit and debit card numbers and PIN codes by implanting card reading devices on ATM machines. It is estimated that this criminal group realised about 1,500,000 euros a month through their illegal activities - equal to 50,000 euros per day. This was done by conducting illegal transactions overseas - mainly in the Dominican Republic and Peru – using the skimmed cards’ details.

For more information see the Europol website.

EAST Launches first Financial Crime & Security Forum

2012-12-04T18:19:00.003+00:00

The European ATM Security Team (EAST) has announced that its first forum, 'EAST FCS 2013' will be held on 13-14 June 2013 in the Hague.

Co-organised with Liqquid Nexxxus, the EAST event will bring together global stakeholders with the objective of sharing knowledge, the latest trends, innovations and modus operandi in the ATM Security field, as well as the impact of international financial crime, and will seek practical and strategic measures to respond to ever-evolving threats.

This is the first open event organised by the EAST Group, which holds three closed meetings for its national representative members each year. Confirmed speakers include: Europol, Atos Worldline, & KBC Bank, the United States Secret Service, the Russian Europay Members Association (REMA) and the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA). For information on the draft Agenda, Speakers, Venue and registration visit the event's page. For information on the EAST Group, and their recently announced new Associate Membership category, visit their website.

Cash trapping attacks in Europe seem to have stabilised

2012-11-19T11:44:00.002+00:00

The European Security Team (EAST) has just released its third Fraud Update for 2012. Cash trapping incidents were reported by 15 of the 21 contributing countries, and such attacks seem to be stabilising or falling in most of them. The most common method used by criminals continues to be a fork or claw inserted into the cash dispense slot during a normal transaction.

In October 2011 and April 2012 EAST reported significant rises in cash trapping incidents, so this latest news is welcome.

ATM skimming attacks continue in all but 4 of the reporting countries, and the migration of fraud losses away from EMV liability shift areas continues. For more information visit the EAST website.