Skimming attacks
May 12, 2011
German banks lost 60 million euros ($86 million) to "skimming" attacks on automatic teller machines (ATMs) last year, according to a report published by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
More than 3,000 ATMs were manipulated by criminals in 2010 – an increase of 55 percent compared with 2009.
The report said the average attack netted the details of 60 bank cards, which meant some 190,000 people became victims of electronic fraud.
The BKA said the majority of criminals skimming ATMs come from southeastern Europe. They typically send the stolen data to Romania and Bulgaria, where accomplices make a illegal copies of the cards and start making withdrawals.
Cameras and keypads
Tech-savvy crooks looking to steal information from bank cards have a whole toolbox of tricks at their disposal.
To start with, they often copy victims' debit or credit cards using disguised card readers which fit snugly over an ATM's regular card slot.
Sometimes they capture unsuspecting ATM a user's personal identification number (PIN) using cameras disguised as smoke detectors. Other times, they fit a new keypad over the original one to log keystrokes.
Unsuspecting victims take their money and go about their business. But within two to three days, criminals are making unauthorized withdrawals from their accounts.
Replacement rush
The Financial Times Deutschland reported Wednesday that Germany's largest private banks have had to replace nearly one third of their ATMs, which were older and "easy to manipulate," at a cost of about 100,000 euros each.
One German bank with a nationwide presence had to replace several hundred ATMs, according to the BKA. But a spokesperson for the Association of German Banks told the dpa news agency the ATMs were replaced as part of routine upgrades.
International standard needed
Thomas Schlüter, a spokesman for Germany's Central Credit Committee (ZKA), an umbrella organization for the banking industry, said that since the beginning of this year, only cards protected by an electronic chip in addition to a magnetic strip and PIN can be used in Germany.
"The ATMs in Germany are secure," Schlüter told Deutsche Welle. "But the fraudulent cards aren't used in Germany or Europe - where we already have a common standard - but rather in countries outside of Europe, where the magnetic stripe is still used."
The ZKA is therefore "trying to push for large card suppliers like MasterCard and Visa to use the same chip technology internationally," he added.
Michaela Roth, a spokeswoman from the German Savings Banks Association, said the retail banking sector was making progress in the fight against ATM fraud.
"It's no longer possible to use card copies to withdraw money in Germany, which means the perpetrators have to travel to foreign countries," she told Deutsche Welle. "And because ATM security in other European countries is consistently improving, it means they have to travel ever further to make use of the copies."
Author: Gerhard Schneibel
Editor: Sam Edmonds