49th EAST Meeting hosted by LINK in London

The 49th EAST Meeting (National Members) was hosted by the LINK Scheme in London on 8th October 2019. National country crime updates were provided by 20 countries, and a global update by HSBC.  Topics covered included payment fraud and the continuing evolution of payment technology and related threats, terminal related fraud attacks, malware and logical attacks, and ATM related physical attacks.

The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) at Europol gave a presentation on the ‘Genesis’ dark web marketplace where cyber-criminals are selling digital fingerprints (bots).  This was followed by a presentation from the INTERPOL Financial Crimes unit on ATM and payment crime.

The Gulf Cooperation Council Police (GCCPOL) then shared an update on payment and fraud issues seen by their 6 member countries. In recognition of their first attendance at an EAST Meeting, GCCPOL representative Major Mohammed Khalid Alabsi presented the current Chair of EAST, Ms Veronica Borgogna (BANCOMAT SpA), with a mementoe of the occasion.  EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said: “We are delighted to be strengthening our relationship with the GCC and the Arab States of the Gulf, another step forward in enhancing the global value of our National Member platform.”

Presentations were also given by the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF) and the EAST Expert Group on ATM and ATS Physical Attacks (EGAP).  An update was given by the EAST Payments Task Force (EPTF).

EAST Fraud Update 3-2019 will be produced later this month, based on the national country crime updates provided at the 49th EAST Meeting.  EAST Fraud Updates are available on the EAST Website to EAST Members.