EDINBURGH, Scotland – A recent update from the ATM Security Association’s European ATM Security Team (EAST) suggests that card skimming at cash machines is evolving.

Criminal usage of throat inlay skimming devices, which are hidden within the card slot, appears to be increasing.

The trend of losses due to skimming occurring outside of EMV chip liability shift areas continues. International losses were reported in 44 countries and territories outside of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and in three within SEPA. The top three locations where such losses were reported are the United States, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Skimming attacks on other terminal types were reported by 12 countries, and seven countries reported such attacks on unattended payment terminals (UPTs) at fuel retailing stations; while 15 countries reported cash trapping attacks and five countries reported transaction reversal fraud (TRF) incidents.

In a recent white paper, the association suggests that ATM skimming will continue to be a formidable threat until every country, including the United States, fully adopts EMV, or chip-and-PIN, card technology.

“It is clear that the presence of the magnetic stripe on payment cards is the underlying cause of the persistent threat of skimming and card compromise at the ATM,” the association wrote in its conclusion. “The strategic goal of the card payment industry needs to be to remove the magnetic stripe from the card once the global migration to EMV is complete and correctly implemented.”

Conexxus and NACS provide convenience and fuel retailers with resources and tools to proactively initiate and maintain effective payment security procedures that help reduce the occurrence of skimming. In December, Conexxus and NACS hosted a free webinar that highlighted the processes and tools available to protect dispenser terminals from intrusion and skimmers. The webinar was conducted by representatives from Gilbarco Veeder-Root and Wayne Fueling Systems.