Banks – Frankfurt am Main – data theft at ATMs: more cases, less damage – economy
Hanover/Frankfurt (dpa/lni) – Until shortly before the end of the year, Lower Saxony had the second most cases of data theft at ATMs among all federal states. This was already the case after the first half of the year – since then further crimes have been registered. This is shown by an evaluation by the Frankfurt facility Euro Kartensysteme, which takes care of payment card security on behalf of the banking industry. According to this, ATMs in Lower Saxony were subject to so-called Zieler skimming attacks 45 times from January to November. Died only happened more often in Hamburg (102), with Baden-Württemberg in third place (20). In the smallest federal state of Bremen, two “skimming” cases became known.
By the end of June, a bank branch or free-standing ATM in Lower Saxony had committed 23 crimes, which also meant second place in a national comparison. In the overall balance for 2021, the country was still third on the “skimming” list – but with significantly fewer cases (13) than now.
Data thieves also struck again nationwide, the number of offenses rose from 136 to 222. However, the criminals were only able to turn spied card data and numbers (PIN) into money in 102 cases, it said. Gross losses from skimming fell by 70 percent year-on-year to a record low of EUR 99,000.
“Skimmer” usually either manipulates the machine slot or gets card data via fake door openers. Sometimes the PIN entry is also filmed with mini cameras or saved via keyboard attachments. The perpetrators then use the data stolen in this way to create duplicate cards and use them to try to withdraw money or make purchases. Individual machines can also be manipulated several times.
Improved safety measures are a major reason for the reduced loss amounts. “The skimming business model has now finally become obsolete for fraudsters thanks to the global implementation of secure EMV chip technology on cards and terminals,” summarized Euro Kartensysteme. With EMV technology, the authenticity of payment cards is checked each time they are used with the help of a built-in mini-computer.
Duplicates based on map data stolen in Germany can therefore only be used in a few countries. Consumers who have been victims of “skimming” usually fear it without any significant disadvantage. As a rule, banks in Germany compensate for such damage – provided customers have clearly dealt with the card and PIN.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:221224-99-09334/3