EAST (the European ATM Security Team) has reported a 14 per cent drop in ATM related fraud losses in 2010, with total losses of €268 million reported (down €44 million from €312 million in 2009).
Says a spokesperson: “This is the second successive annual drop, following on from the 36 per cent fall reported for 2009.
“This fall is driven by a reduction in losses due to card skimming attacks, which have fallen for the past six half yearly reporting periods, from a peak of €315 million in December 2007, to the current level of €123 million in December 2010.
“ATM related fraud attacks fell by seven per cent with a total of 12,383 incidents reported (down from 13,269 incidents in 2009).”
EAST director and co-ordinator, Lachlan Gunn, said: “The continuing drop in fraud losses is very good news for both cardholders and the industry, and indicates that the significant investment made by the European banking sector into EMV technology, as well as into anti-skimming devices at ATMs, is now really starting to pay off.
“That being said, these statistics are for Europe as a whole, and seven out of the twenty two contributing countries reported an increase in skimming related losses, a significant increase in some cases.
“EAST is always urging cardholders to be vigilant when using ATMs and cardholder security tips are provided on the EAST website – the top tip is to shield your PIN when making a transaction.”
The spokesperson adds: “The majority (82 per cent) of ATM-related card skimming losses are now international (losses outside national borders by criminals using stolen card details) with most now 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.
“Physical attacks on European ATMs, have fallen by 16 per cent when compared with 2009 (down from 2,468 to 2,062 incidents).
“Within this total, the number of reported explosive and gas attacks (278) has gone up for the second year in succession, an 88 per cent increase when compared to 2009. Overall losses rose 18 per cent to €33 million (up from €28 million in 2008).
*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.”
A summary of the report statistics under the main headings is in the table below.
The full report, with breakdowns for each crime category, is available to EAST subscribers on the EAST website.
EUROPEAN ATM CRIME STATISTICS – SUMMARY
ATM Related Fraud Attacks 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 per cent +/- 09/10
Total reported Incidents 5,784 4,934 12,278 13,269 12,383 -seven per cent
Total reported losses €306m €439m €485m €312m €268m -14 per cent
ATM Related Physical Attacks 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 per cent +/- 09/10
Total reported Incidents 2,207 3,550 3,043 2,468 2,062 -16 per cent
Total reported losses €28m €31m €26m €28m €33m +18 per cent
ENDS (background data on the report and 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 2010, period: January to December 2010
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 22 European states.
The following countries, with an estimated total installed base of 369,791ATMs, supplied full or partial information for this report:
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, 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 27 countries with a total deployment of 531,538 ATMs.
More information can be found at www.european-atm-security.eu
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Contact: Lachlan Gunn
Phone: + 44 131 5100268
Email: coordinator@eas-team.eu
Website: http://www.european-atm-security.eu
