Organized criminals are targeting ATMs as “a weak point in the banking chain” said Tom Harper, of the ATM Industry Association, after a massive ATM swindle in which USD 6 million was stolen from 21,000 bank accounts. Banks are loath to discuss ATM breaches for fear of giving criminals ideas, but are getting better at helping customers hit by ATM crime, according to the ABA. Since “there are many people who say they have been defrauded when they have not”, says John Hall, of the ABA, victims making a report, need to prove that the withdrawals were in fact unauthorized.
Given that the US ATM industry is largely unregulated, “no government agency knows how many cash machines are operating, where they all are, or who owns them”, The New York Times notes. From 1996, new surcharges on ATM withdrawals led private owners such as small grocers, to install machines on their premises, causing a tripling in number of ATMs in use, to about 370,000. For banks, ATM “fees are cash cows”, says Edmund Mierzwinski, of the US Public Interest Research Group, as fees are collected from third-party ATMs, and from shared network interests.
Under today’s surcharges, ATM users typically pay USD 1 to 3 to the machine’s owner, and USD 1 to 1.50 to the bank issuing their ATM card, while ATM fees now total USD 4.5 billion annually, according to research firm, Dove Consulting. New ATM owners are meant to be vetted by ISOs, but shortfalls in this area have led to the use of ATMs for laundering money. Consequently, the ATM industry is trying to fight organized ATM crime with tougher background checks, improved machines and definite efforts by ATM criminals to shift their focus to bank-owned machines.
Yahoo! News
|
