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Asian, European law enforcement agencies unite to fight ATM fraud

June 1, 2018

As EMV chip cards have become prevalent in the European Union, banks have seen an increase in fraudulent payments with European cards at ATMs in Asian countries.

According to Europol, organized crime groups from Europe have set up cells in Asia, creating an illegal network that has increased not only the incidence of fraud, but also of violence within the cells, resulting in the death of some members.

On May 29 and 30 in Hanoi, law enforcement groups held a payment card fraud meeting in Hanoi in search of an effective response to this criminal phenomenon.

The meeting aimed to consolidate and strengthen cooperation under the Eurasean Investigative Network on Payment Card Fraud, a body led by Europol, and supported by both Aseanapol and Interpol.

The network includes law enforcement officers from EU Member States and 10 ASEAN countries — Brunei; Cambodia; Indonesia; Laos; Malaysia; Myanmar; Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; and Vietnam — with the European Association for Secure Transactions representing the private sector.

The network, established last year, has been increasingly efficient and boosted several investigations that led to arrests between Bulgaria and Vietnam, France and Thailand and Romania and Indonesia, Europol said in a press release.

International cooperation has involved the exchange of information, technical support and strategies, allowing authorities to disrupt organized criminal groups active in Asia and Europe, detect fugitives detected, seize false ID documents and recover criminal assets, the release said.