National & Global Fraud Intelligence – 5th EAST Global Congress

The 5th EAST Global Congress took place on Wednesday 11th October 2023 at ING Bank in Amsterdam as a hybrid meeting, with some delegates participating online.

The meeting was chaired by Veronica Borgogna from Worldline.  The key focus was on the sharing of payment and terminal fraud intelligence (global, regional, national).

Law enforcement overviews were provided by Europol and the Gulf Cooperation Council Police.  Private sector fraud intelligence updates were received from 26 countries, either directly or via regional/global updates by BNP Paribas, HSBC, and Worldline.  Regional updates were also provided for ASP and MENA.  Each update covered Fraud Types, Fraud Origin, Due Diligence and Physical Attacks (ATM, ATS and CIT).

Social engineering of victims by organised criminals remains a major concern across all the countries and it was noted that non-banking fraud is a rising issue.  Updates were given on Active Shimmer (Wedge) / Relay attacks, a continuing threat in several countries.

Updates from the three EAST Expert Groups were given:

EAST Fraud Update 3-2023 will be produced early next month, based on the country updates provided at the EAST Global Congress.  EAST Fraud, Payment, and Physical Attack Alerts are available on the EAST Intranet to EAST Members.

The 6th EAST Global Congress, scheduled for 7th February 2024, will also be held as a Hybrid Meeting.

2nd Interim EAST Meeting – National and Global Members

A second Interim Meeting of EAST National and Global Members took place on Wednesday 7th October 2020. Due to the Covid-19 situation, it was conducted as a virtual meeting. The meeting was chaired by Rui Carvalho, EAST Development Director.  The 1st EAST Global Congress is now scheduled to be held in February 2021, dependant on the prevailing status of the pandemic.

Law enforcement overviews were provided by EuropolINTERPOL and the Gulf Cooperation Council Police (GCCPOL).  Two presentations were made by Europol: one from the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) covered the recent publication of their Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA 2020), focussed on criminal trends relating to Covid-19, and prevention and awareness; the other covered Physical ATM attacks across Europe.  The INTERPOL presentation covered the impact of Covid-19 on Financial crimes from the global perspective and the GCCPOL presentation covered payment and fraud issues seen by their 6 member countries.

Updates were received from 28 countries, either directly or via a global update by HSBC. As with the previous meeting, the key focus remained on the impact of the coronavirus crisis and each update covered Fraud Types, Fraud Origin, Due Diligence and Physical Attacks (ATM, ATS and CIT).

EAST Fraud Update 3-2020 will be produced during October, based on the country updates provided at the Interim EAST Meeting. EAST Fraud, Payment and Physical Attack Updates are available on the EAST Intranet to EAST Members.

Terminal Fraud

terminal fraudWhile most payment transactions take place seamlessly and without issue, financial criminals remain active and terminal fraud is a problem for payment terminal deployers, ATM deployers, card issuers, equipment manufacturers and vendors, software providers, law enforcement agencies and other payment industry stakeholders.  On 10th October 2018 the EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EAST EGAF) will hold an open Financial Crime & Security (FCS) Seminar in London to focus on the issue.  EAST EGAF is chaired by Otto de Jong of ING Bank.

EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said ‘EAST EGAF was formed as a working group in 2013 and will hold its 16th Meeting on Wednesday 19th September 2018 in Amsterdam. Attendance at EAST EGAF meetings is restricted in accordance with the group’s Terms of Reference, which makes the coming FCS Seminar in October a great opportunity for all those affected by, or concerned about, terminal fraud to engage with EAST’.

This interactive event focuses on two key outputs of EAST EGAF – Guidelines regarding logical attacks on ATMs and standardised fraud definitions.  An introduction to the Group will be followed by a presentation of the latest EAST Fraud Statistics (H1 2018).  A session by Juan Jesús León Cobos of GMV will then focus on the evolution of cash-out/jackpotting attacks in Latin America, followed by a session by Europol’s Tobias Wieloch highlighting Guidelines on how to counter them.  A perspective on card shimming in the UK will then be given by forensic experts Brian Underhill and Nick Weber, followed by a session on the importance of standardising fraud definitions by Ben Birtwistle of RBS and Claire Shufflebotham of TMD Security. The event is co-located with RBR’s ATM & Cyber Security 2018 Conference.  See the full programme here.

Attendance at EAST EGAF meetings is limited, as it is a working group, and this EAST FCS Seminar enables wider participation and the opportunity for all attendees to engage with the Group and its organisers.


The Seminar is sponsored by:

 

 

 

 

EAST presents at NCR Fraud & Security Summit

Fraud & Security SummitEAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn presented at the 5th Annual NCR Fraud & Security Summit, held in London on 9th October 2017.  The event allowed security experts from around the world to share experiences and information on a wide array of security topics such as emerging threats, trends, solutions and innovations.

Lachlan Gunn (pictured on the right with NCR’s Charlie Harrow) gave an overview of EAST and its new structure, before delivering an update on the payment fraud and crime situation in Europe.  He referred to statistics from EAST’s recently published European Payment Terminal Crime Report which highlighted a significant increase in logical (black box) attacks.

The Agenda included presentations that covered NCR’s Security Startegy, expanding logical protection to the Network, contactless and new technologies, protecting ATMs from physical attacks, ATM attack trends and an update on the new NCR 80 Series ATMs.

ATM Black Box Attacks spread across Europe

EAST ATM Crime Report 2016 - ATM black box attacks increaseIn a European ATM Crime Report covering 2016 EAST has reported that ATM black box attacks were up 287% when compared to 2015.

A total of 58 such attacks were reported by ten countries, up from 15 attacks during 2015.  ‘Black Box’ is the connection of an unauthorised device which sends dispense commands directly to the ATM cash dispenser in order to ‘cash-out’ the ATM.  Related losses were down 39%, from €0.74 million to €0.45 million.

EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said, “While the rise in ATM black box attacks is a concern, we are pleased to note that many of these attacks were not successful.  In 2015, to help the industry counter such attacks, our EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud (EGAF) worked with Europol to produce a document entitled ‘Guidance & recommendations regarding logical attacks on ATMs’.  At our third global Financial Crime & Security (FCS) Forum, which will be held in The Hague on 8th/9th June 2017, EAST EGAF will lead a proactive breakout session during which black box attacks will be discussed.”

ATM related fraud attacks increased by 26%, up from 18,738 in 2015 to 23,588 in 2016.  This rise was mainly driven by a 147% increase in Transaction Reversal Fraud (up from 5,104 to 12,581 incidents).  The downward trend for card skimming continues with 3,315 card skimming incidents reported, down 20% from 4,131 in 2015.  This is the lowest number of skimming incidents reported since 2005.

Losses due to ATM related fraud attacks were up 2% when compared with 2015 (up from €327 million to €332 million).  The Asia-Pacific region and the USA are where the majority of such losses were reported.  Domestic skimming losses rose 24% over the same period (up from €44 million to €53 million).

ATM related physical attacks rose 12% when compared with 2015 (up from 2,657 to 2,974 incidents).  Within this total ATM explosive attacks (including explosive gas and solid explosive attacks) were up 47% from the previous year (up from 673 to 988 incidents).  Losses due to ATM related physical attacks were €49 million, unchanged from the previous year.

The average cash loss for a ram raid or burglary attack is estimated at €14,890, the average cash loss per explosive attack is €17,403 and the average cash loss for a robbery is €20,293.  These figures do not take into account collateral damage to equipment or buildings, which can be significant and often exceeds the value of the cash lost in successful attacks.

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

European ATM Crime Statistics Summary

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

What’s new at EAST FCS 2017?

EAST FCS 2017

This year’s EAST Financial Crime & Security Forum (EAST FCS 2017) offers a new format, to facilitate better discussion with peers and a greater number of networking opportunities.  There is an exciting and targeted agenda this year which includes some of the world’s best experts in ATM operations and crime prevention.  In addition to the plenary sessions on the main stage, two workshops on key topics relating to ATM physical attacks and general ATM fraud have been added.

One workshop will be led by Otto de Jong, Chairman of the EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud (EGAF), which includes round table discussions and expert speakers on subjects such as ‘Cash out Attacks’ (including Black Box attacks) and ‘ATM Fraud The Next Stage’. The other workshop will be led by Graham Mott, Chairman of the EAST Expert Group on ATM Physical Attacks (EGAP), and will cover ‘Traditional Attacks’, ‘Current Physical Attack Types’, ‘Counter-measures’ and ‘Banknote Degradation’.  Running concurrently, the workshops will be interactive and participation is encouraged.

EAST FCS NetworkingA key part to any specialist event is networking. For the EAST FCS Forum in June, we have organised welcome cocktails (Wednesday 7th June) and a ‘BBQ by the Beach’ (Thursday 8th June) at the Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus.  There will also be more networking breaks throughout the event to ensure the best opportunities to meet with industry peers and to discuss specific goals and needs.

Book soon to ensure you don’t miss your opportunity to attend the event.

EAST EGAF holds 12th Meeting

The EAST Expert Group on ATM FraudThe Twelfth Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud (EAST EGAF) took place on Wednesday 18th January 2017 at ING Domestic Bank in Amsterdam.

EAST EGAF is a regional expert group that focuses on regional and global ATM crime and fraud related issues, threats and counter-measures.

The meeting was chaired by Mr Otto de Jong and was attended by key representatives from ATM Deployers, ATM Networks, ATM Vendors, Security Equipment and Software Vendors, Law Enforcement and Forensic Analysts.

The Group, which meets three times a year in advance of each of the meetings of EAST National Members, enables in-depth and technical discussion to take place on ATM Skimming, ATM Card Trapping, ATM Cash Trapping, ATM Reversal Fraud and ATM Logical Fraud.

The focus of the Group is on topics and issues raised by EAST National Members, which represent 34 countries with a total deployment of 1,332,228 ATMs. Outputs from the group are presented to all meetings of EAST National Members.

In addition EAST EGAF generates EAST ATM Fraud Alerts for all EAST Members (National and Associate). In total 127 EAST ATM Fraud Alerts have been issued, 3 to date in 2017.

ATM Explosive Attacks surge in Europe

european-atm-crime-report-h1-2016In a European ATM Crime Report covering the first six months of 2016 EAST has reported that ATM explosive attacks were up 80% when compared to the same period in 2015.

A total of 492 explosive attacks were reported, up from 273 during the same period in 2015.  While the majority were explosive gas attacks, 110 were solid explosive attacks.  EAST Executive Director Lachlan Gunn said, “This rise in explosive attacks is of great concern to the industry in Europe as such attacks create a significant amount of collateral damage to equipment and buildings as well as a risk to life.  The EAST Expert Group on Physical Attacks (EGAP) is working to analyse the attacks and to share intelligence best practice information across the industry and law enforcement that can help to mitigate the threat.”

Overall ATM related physical attacks rose 30% when compared with H1 2015 (up from 1,232 to 1,604 incidents).  Losses due to ATM related physical attacks rose 3% to €27 million (up from €26.3 million in 2015).  The average cash loss for a ram raid or burglary attack is estimated at €17,327, the average cash loss per explosive attack is €16,631 and the average cash loss for a robbery is €20,017.  These figures do not take into account collateral damage to equipment or buildings, which can be significant and often exceeds the value of the cash lost in successful attacks.

EAST also reported a 28% increase in ATM related fraud attacks, up from 8,421 in H1 2015 to 10,820 in H1 2016.  This rise was mainly driven by a 281% increase in Transaction Reversal Fraud (up from 1,270 to 4,840 incidents).  The downward trend for card skimming continues with 1,573 card skimming incidents reported, down 21% from 1,986 in H1 2015.

Losses due to ATM related fraud attacks were up 12% when compared with H1 2015 (up from €156 million to €174 million).  This rise was largely driven by an 8% rise in international skimming losses (up from €131 million to €142 million).  The Asia-Pacific region (particularly Indonesia) and the USA are where the majority of such losses were reported.  Domestic skimming losses rose 24% over the same period.

The number of ATM logical attacks reported continues to rise.  28 incidents were reported (all ‘cash out’ or ‘jackpotting’ attacks), up from just 5 during the same period in 2015.  Related losses were €0.4 million.

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

h1-2016-crime-report-summary-stats

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

EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud holds 11th Meeting

The EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud - LogoThe Eleventh Meeting of the EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud (EAST EGAF) took place on Wednesday 28th September 2016 at ING Domestic Bank in Amsterdam.

EAST EGAF is a regional expert group that focuses on regional and global ATM crime and fraud related issues, threats and counter-measures.

The meeting was chaired by Mr Otto de Jong and was attended by key representatives from ATM Deployers, ATM Networks, ATM Vendors, Security Equipment Vendors, Law Enforcement and Forensic Analysts.

EAST EGAF, which meets three times a year in advance of each of the meetings of EAST National Members, enables in-depth and technical discussion to take place on ATM Skimming, ATM Card Trapping, ATM Cash Trapping, ATM Reversal Fraud and ATM Logical Fraud.

The focus of EAST EGAF is on topics and issues raised by EAST National Members, which represent 34 countries with a total deployment of 1,332,228 ATMs. Outputs from the group are presented to all meetings of EAST National Members.

In addition EAST EGAF generates EAST ATM Fraud Alerts for all EAST Members (National and Associate). In total 115 EAST ATM Fraud Alerts have been issued, 40 to date in 2016.

EAST ATM Fraud Alerts

The first EAST ATM Fraud Alert was issued on 12th September 2013 and, to date, 108 such alerts have been issued by 20 countries.  These Alerts provide valuable and timely intelligence to law enforcement agencies and the industry, allowing the spread of emerging threats and criminal methodologies to be tracked across the world.  While most of the Alerts have been issued by countries within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), there have been some from Belarus, Mexico, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and the United States.

To date the Alerts issued have covered:  ATM Malware / Black Box attacks (cash out / jackpotting); Card Shimming; Card Skimming (highlighting the spread of different devices such as M1, M2 and M3); Card Trapping; Cash Trapping; Eavesdropping (highlighting the use of different MOs such as E2 and E3); EMV Shock Cards; Transaction Reversal Fraud; and Vandalism.  The table below shows a summary the Alerts issued:

EAST ATM Fraud Alerts Issued

The EAST Expert Group on ATM Fraud (EGAF) initiated the Alerts and conducts in-depth analysis of some of the emerging threats and devices.  Each Alert covers: the type of fraud; the country where discovered; the ATM type(s) affected; an indication as to whether or not the fraud was successful; a description of the device and the criminal MO; indication as the device location; information on PIN compromise (if card skimming or card trapping); and any available images.

The Alerts are restricted documents and are issued to to EAST Members (National and Associate) for their internal usage.