The Romanian Police announces that it has intensified controls at ATMs to prevent theft. The police gave 15 fines for too long intervention times, but they also have some recommendations for the use of ATMs.
The controls were organized to identify the vulnerabilities of bank machines, the way in which the physical security risk analysis was carried out and in which the banks and security service providers comply with their legal obligations in the field of security, protection and alarm against burglary.
5,377 ATMs were controlled (of which almost 3,000 ATMs are located outside banking units).
The results of the checks show that the security measures established by the risk analysis have been implemented at most bank machines, namely 98%.
In other cases, measures and deadlines were established to remedy the identified deficiencies, and 180 contraventional sanctions were applied, in the amount of 458,600 lei (95 to the responsible factors within the units, and 85 to the service providers).
For example, some of the verified ATMs did not have the physical security risk analysis performed (40% of the machines), the measures being limited to the implementation of the minimum security requirements.
The tests carried out to establish the optimal functioning of the burglar alarm systems led to the identification of 35 situations in which the electronic systems presented various disturbances.
Also, deficiencies were found in some security service providers, such as non-compliance with intervention times in rural areas. The average of their reaction times was almost 11 minutes, but there were some situations in which the maximum times stipulated by the legal framework were exceeded.
Thus, 15 contraventional sanctions were applied to service providers for non-compliance with intervention times.
"Skimming consists in installing devices at ATMs or POS, through which the data from the magnetic strips of credit cards are copied, which can later be used to register new credit cards, with which cash withdrawals are made. Also, another criminal way to obtain data to clone the card is – a device that mounts to the mouth of the ATM and locks the card inside. Immediately, a <,benevolent> appears who offers his help, finds out the PIN from the customer himself and, after his departure, removes the card from the ATM", according to a statement sent on Thursday by the IGPR.
The Romanian Police recommends hiding receipts, invoices or other documents containing information about the card, notifying the bank if someone changes their personal data.
"If your card is blocked in the ATM, do not ask or allow anyone's help, and especially do not tell anyone the PIN! Cover the keyboard with your hand when entering the PIN code and check the authenticity of the slot where the bank card is inserted. Before performing any cash withdrawal, it is good for users to gently pull the ATM keypad. If this is false, it detaches. Another clue to a fake keyboard is the appearance of the number key. 5. If it is original, key 5 has a slight bump, while on the fake keyboard it is perfectly smooth," the same statement reads.