2020, Less ATM Crime

The European Association for Secure Transactions (EAST) has issued its 2020 report on ATM crime. EAST collects data from 21 Western European countries operating about 335,000 ATMs, 223,000 unattended payment terminals and 14.5 million point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

While economies were locked down, criminals remained active, at least to some extent. A number of types of crime saw dramatic reductions. Card skimming fell to a record low level of 656 incidents, down 56%, transaction reversal fraud dropped 97%, ram raids and ATM burglaries fell by a third, even explosive attacks were 6% lower, although annual losses rose from €10.49 to €14.59 million, up 39%. On the other hand, malware and logical attacks rose 14%.

Overall, the number of terminal-related fraud attacks fell 64%, although the value of losses only fell 14% to €218 million. The roll out of EMV smart payment cards has significantly reduced ATM skimming attacks (copying cards and recording PIN numbers). The more low-tech approach of card and cash trapping has not entirely gone away but is at a very low level, just 250 cases compared with 9,054 in 2019.