TRF fraudster jailed in Ireland after causing nearly €13,000 of damage

Damien Ionut (34), a Romanian national, has received a three year prison sentence in connection with a series of transaction reversal fraud (TRF) attacks on ATMs in the Republic of Ireland that caused nearly €13,000 of damage.  He was part of a group of men who targeted ATMs in counties Louth, Kildare, Wicklow, Meath, Westmeath and Dublin.  He also has 30 previous convictions for TRF attacks on ATMs in eight other European countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Romania, Spain, United Kingdom). According to police sources the total cash amount taken by Ionut in the five-week period was €5,980. Some of the attacks did not succeed but the total amount of damage caused was €12,881.  The attacks took place during October and November 2019.

Ionut was sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Friday 1st May 2020.  Police told the court that Ionut’s typical MO was as follows:

  • A legitimate “chip and pin” card is used to make a small cash withdrawal. When the cash dispenser shutter opens to dispense the cash, the criminal places a clip device behind it.
  • Then he uses the same card to request a much larger cash withdrawal, averaging €500. The ATM presents the cash behind the shutter, ready for delivery to the customer. However before the cash is dispensed, the ATM presents the bank card back to the user. The criminal quickly switches the real card for a dummy one, which is retracted by the ATM (which assumes the customer has left without it).
  •  As a result the ATM does not debit the customer’s bank account and attempts to recover the cash from behind the cash dispense shutter.
  • The clip placed behind the shutter prevents this from happening and the criminal then uses a chisel to break open the shutter and takes the cash.

More details of the case can be found in a related article published by the Irish Times

The EAST Expert Group on All Terminal Fraud (EGAF) focuses on the prevention of TRF and has produced a standard definition for TRF which can be seen in the below image.

TRF

EAST EGAF has produced definitions for all terminal fraud types, along with the related criminal benefits.  These can be seen on the Terminal Fraud Definitions page of this website.

 

 

EAST Publishes European Fraud Update 1-2016

EAST - EUROPEAN FRAUD UPDATE 1 - 2016EAST has just published its first European Fraud Update for 2016. This is based on country crime updates given by representatives of 19 countries in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), and 4 non-SEPA countries, at the 38th EAST meeting held in Stockholm on 10th February 2016

Card skimming at ATMs was reported by twenty countries. Criminal usage of M2 – Throat Inlay Skimming Devices appears to be increasing. This type of device is placed inside the card reader throat in front of the shutter. Three countries reported such attacks.

The trend of losses due to skimming occurring outside of EMV Chip liability shift areas continues. International losses were reported in 44 countries and territories outside of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and in 3 within SEPA. The top three locations where such losses were reported remain the USA, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Skimming attacks on other terminal types were reported by twelve countries and seven countries reported such attacks on unattended payment terminals (UPTs) at petrol stations.

Fifteen countries reported cash trapping attacks and five countries reported transaction reversal fraud (TRF) incidents.

ATM malware and logical security attacks were reported by three countries – two of them reported the successful usage of ‘black-box’ devices to allow the unauthorised dispensing of cash.

Ram raids and ATM burglary were reported by ten countries and ten countries also reported explosive gas attacks, one of them for the first time. One country reported the use of explosive liquid (nitro-glycerine) to blow open an ATM safe – the first time that this has been reported to EAST.

The full Fraud Update is available to EAST Members (National and Associate) and Subscribers.

EAST Publishes European Fraud Update 3-2015

EAST - EUROPEAN FRAUD UPDATE 3 - 2015EAST has just published its third European Fraud Update for 2015. This is based on country crime updates given by representatives of 17 countries in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), and 3 non-SEPA countries, at the 37th EAST meeting held in London on 7th October 2015.

Card skimming at ATMs was reported by seventeen countries. One country reported the successful usage of a stereo-skimming device, the first time that this has been reported. Another country reported an unsuccessful attack using an ATM shimming device.

The trend of losses due to skimming occurring outside of EMV* Chip liability shift areas continues. International losses were reported in 53 countries and territories outside of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and in 10 within SEPA. The top three locations where such losses were reported were the USA, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Skimming attacks on other terminal types were reported by nine countries and one country reported such attacks at payment terminals linked to docking stations for the hire of bicycles.

Eleven countries reported cash trapping attacks and six countries card trapping incidents.

ATM malware and logical security attacks were reported by two countries – one of them reporting malware used for ‘cash-out’ attacks and the other black-box attacks used for the same purpose.

Ram raids and ATM burglary were reported by seven countries and seven countries also reported explosive gas attacks. In one country the average duration of an ATM explosive gas attack is 3-5 minutes.

The full Fraud Update is available to EAST Members (National and Associate) and Subscribers.

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

EAST ATM Crime Report H1 2015In 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.

EAST H1 2015 Crime Report Summary Stats

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

EAST Publishes European Fraud Update 2-2015

EAST - EUROPEAN FRAUD UPDATE 2 - 2015EAST has just published its second European Fraud Update for 2015. This is based on country crime updates given by representatives of 19 countries in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), and 2 non-SEPA countries, at the 36th EAST meeting held at Europol in the Hague on 10th June 2015.

Card skimming at ATMs was reported by 17 countries, with decreases reported by 7 countries and increases by two. Six countries reported card data compromise through wire-tapping or ‘Eavesdropping’ – the criminals cut a hole in the fascia near to the card reader, insert a device which is connected internally to the card reader and then cover the hole with a fake decal.

Skimming attacks on other terminal types were reported by 8 countries and overall the number of attacks appears to be decreasing.

Fourteen countries reported cash trapping attacks and 7 countries incidents of transaction reversal fraud (TRF).

ATM malware incidents were reported by four countries. These were ATM ‘cash out’ or ‘jackpotting’ attacks. Two of the countries reported such attacks for the first time. To help counter this threat Europol has recently published a document entitled ‘Guidance and Recommendations regarding Logical attacks on ATMs’.

Ram raids and ATM burglary were reported by 9 countries, with one of them reporting increases in this type of attack and another a new method for accessing the ATM from below. Eleven countries reported explosive gas attacks, and two of them also reported attacks on ATMs using solid explosives.

The full Fraud Update is available to EAST Members (National and Associate) and Subscribers.