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New campaign to combat ATM fraud launched

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New campaign to combat ATM fraud launched
Photo: DPA

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is launching a new campaign to stop ATM fraud following reports that more than 100 Sparkasse customers’ accounts were recently compromised in apparent skimming attacks.

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From October the BKA plans to work with banks to identify more flexible and rapid ways to exchange information and to develop common defence strategies, BKA head Jörg Ziercke told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on Thursday.

Ziercke did not go into further detail. A BKA spokesman confirmed the new partnership but also declined further detail.

But Ziercke told WAZ that new strategies were needed to attack fraud, and particularly skimming, in which customers’ ATM card details can be captured by a thief who simply puts a recording device over an ATM.

About 190,000 German consumers are affected each year by skimming, while 60 to 70 customers can be hit in one attack on an ATM.

Ziercke said police were scrambling to stay on top of new, emerging fraud techniques. With the explosion of computer use, thieves have been adopting more sophisticated methods of operation.

“The perpetrators’ methods are getting more sophisticated,” he said. “The theft of credit card data and subsequent fraudulent use has become ‘established.’”

DPA/The Local/mdm

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