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ATM fraud losses in Germany total €8M at midyear

July 15, 2013

Fraudsters targeted 250 ATMs in Germany during the first half of this year, racking up €8 million ($10.5 million) in losses to the financial system, according to card security group Euro Kartensysteme.

At the year's midpoint, this represents less than half of the losses incurred in 2012. As a result, members of the German financial sector are speculating that overall damage for 2013 might drop slightly from last year's total of €17 million ($22.2 million), said the German publication The Local.

Euro Kartensysteme reported that most of the card information stolen in Germany was used to commit fraud in countries that have yet to switch from the magnetic stripe to the more secure EMV chip, which authenticates the card in addition to the data it holds.

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