European ATM Fraud Incidents up 15%, driven by low tech crime

In a European ATM Crime Report covering the first six months of 2015 EAST has reported that ATM fraud incidents were up 15% when compared to the same period in 2014.

ATM related fraud attacks were up from 7,345 in H1 2014 to 8,421 in H1 2015. This rise was mainly driven by an 18% increase in card trapping attacks (up from 2,579 to 3,043 incidents) and a 985% increase in Transaction Reversal Fraud (TRF) attacks (up from 117 to 1,270 incidents). Trapped cards can be used in the EMV environment (if the PIN has also been compromised). 1,986 card skimming incidents were reported, down 18% from 2,425 in H1 2014.

Losses due to ATM related fraud attacks were up 18% when compared with H1 2014 (up from €132 million to €156 million). This rise was largely driven by an 18% rise in international skimming losses (up from €111 million to €131 million). The Asia-Pacific region (particularly Indonesia) and the USA are where the majority of such losses were reported. Domestic skimming losses rose 11% over the same period.

EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said, “International skimming losses have risen for the past four reporting periods and EAST is working closely with Europol to raise awareness of this issue in Asia-Pacific and the Americas.”

ATM related physical attacks rose by 19% when compared with H1 2014 (up from 1,032 to 1,232 incidents).  This is explained by a 1,013% increase in reported robberies, due to the fact that one country has been able to report on this for the first time.  423 such attacks were reported, up from 38 in 2014.

Losses due to ATM related physical attacks rose 100% to €26 million (up from €13 million in 2014), again mainly due to the fact that one country has reported losses due to robbery for the first time. Losses due to robbery rose from €0.4 million to €10.5 million. The average cash loss for robberies was €24,799 per incident, for ram raids/ATM burglary €22,604 per incident, and for explosive attacks €19,737.

In H1 2015 5 ATM malware incidents were reported (‘cash out’ or ‘jackpotting’ attacks), with related losses of €0.14 million. To counter the malware threat, the EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud (EGAF) worked with Europol to create ‘Guidance & recommendations regarding logical attacks on ATMs’, a document published by Europol in June 2015.

A summary of the report statistics under the main headings is in the table below.

The full Crime Report is available to EAST Members (National and Associate) and Subscribers.