Portuguese Authorities Fighting ATM Thieves
- The Portuguese Minister for Internal Affairs explains that 840 ATMs have been robbed over the past five years and that fraudsters have managed to steal money in 40% of cases. The same authorities also reminds that this country has 14,000 ATMs, most of which located in “vulnerable” or “isolated” locations.
- A dedicated guide should be crafted as law enforcement forces, the Portuguese interbank organisation (Sociedade Interbancária de Serviços – SIBS) and the banks are currently working on “additional security measures” to prevent these kinds of attacks.
- ATM security remains a major concern for banking players, manufacturers and other ATM estate operators. According to the European ATM Security Team, ATM fraud figures remain high in most investigated countries and skimming attacks are still significant threats (see November 2011 Insight). For instance, EAST expresses its fears regarding attacks using explosive materials (solid explosive and explosive gas), “which can result in significant collateral damage”.
- We should also note the major part played by the Portuguese interbank organisation SIBS, in charge of managing the national payment network and migrating Portugal to EMV: it administrates the entire Portuguese card payment scheme.