Theft from European automatic teller machines rose almost
150% last year to reach €500m, says a report from the European
Network and Information Security Agency (Enisa) published
today.
Enisa said ATM theft was criminals' preferred way of getting
money from stolen or cloned bank cards. There was almost a
one-third rise in the number of burglaries or physical attacks on
ATMs using ram raids, rotary saws, thermal lances and diamond
drills, it said.
Enisa said there were more than 10,000 "skimming incidents",
where criminals had stolen user identities and passwords to rob
their accounts.
Criminals used different attacks from "shoulder surfing" to spy
cameras, false keyboard overlays and even fake machines to steal
account details. Increasingly they used Bluetooth wireless
communications to send card and Pin details to nearby laptop
computers, Enisa said.
Enisa said the number of ATMs in Europe had risen 6% since 2008
to reach 400,000. Many were in remote or less stringently guarded
locations. Some 72% of ATMs were in UK, Spain, Germany, France and
Italy.
Enisa director Andrea Pirotti said ATM crime was likely to
increase as more multi-purpose ATMs were installed.
Pirotti offered three "golden rules" for ATM users:
•Don't use ATMs with extra signage or warnings
• Try to use ATMs inside bank premises
• Don't use free-standing ATMs, especially ones that offer
fee-free services.
He said consumers should check their bank statements often for
signs of suspicious activity.