Dutch police arrest 3 over ATM bomb attacks

Dutch police have arrested three people over a string of bomb attacks on cash machines in Germany that netted nearly one million euros ($1.05 million), the EU's policing agency said Thursday.

The three suspected members of a criminal gang that targets automated teller machines (ATMs) were arrested on Tuesday in the cities of Haarlem and Vianen in the Netherlands, Europol said.

Often using stolen vehicles and working in the dead of night, the gang used explosives to break into eight ATMs in Germany in October and November 2021 and steal the cash inside, Europol said in a statement.

"With the support of Europol, the Dutch Police, working together with the German Police... has arrested three suspected members of a criminal gang responsible for a string of robberies targeting ATMs in Germany," Europol said.

German police arrested three other suspects back in March 2020 and are hunting another fugitive.

The ATM raids in Hessen, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Lower Saxony and Rhineland Palatinate in Germany netted over 958,000 euros in cash, Europol said.

The blasts also caused nearly one million euros of damage "demonstrating no insight into the risk of harm, or even possibility of death, to those who lived nearby or who were near the machines at the time."

Dutch and German police said in September 2021 that they had busted a criminal gang that made video tutorials on the increasingly popular method of raiding ATMs.

One suspect was killed and another wounded when a trial run at a so-called training centre for the explosive attacks went wrong in the Dutch city of Utrecht.

Agence France-Presse

India's Cosmos Bank loses $13.5-M in cyber attack

MUMBAI - Cyber criminals hacked the systems of India's Cosmos Bank and siphoned off nearly 944 million rupees ($13.5 million) through simultaneous withdrawals across 28 countries over the weekend, the bank has told police.

The co-operative bank said unidentified hackers stole customer information through a malware attack on its automated teller machine (ATM) server, withdrawing 805 million rupees in 14,849 transactions in just over two hours on Aug. 11, mainly overseas.

Apart from the ATM withdrawals, the hackers transferred 139 million rupees to a Hong Kong-based company's account by issuing three unauthorised transactions over the SWIFT global payments network, the bank said in a police complaint, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

SWIFT, whose messaging system is used to transfer trillions of dollars a day, said it did not comment on individual cases.

Cosmos Bank, based in the western city of Pune, said in a press statement that its main banking software receives debit card payment requests via a "switching system" but it was bypassed in the attack.

"During the malware attack, a proxy switch was created and all the fraudulent payment approvals were passed by the proxy switching system," the bank said.

The bank declined to reveal the countries, citing security risks.

Police said they were investigating the theft.

A police official, who declined to be named, said they had enlisted the help of experts to find out how authorised transactions were conducted simultaneously in various countries.

India's City Union Bank Ltd reported in February that it had suffered three "fraudulent remittances" of nearly $2 million that had been pushed through the SWIFT financial platform.

In 2016, unknown hackers stole more than $81 million from the Bangladesh central bank's account with the Federal Reserve Bank Of New York. Investigators have made little progress in the case.

"While there is growing awareness to regularly update an organisation's cyber preparedness and defence mechanisms, a large number of institutions wake up to this reality only post an incident which often leads to a loss of reputation and/or financial misappropriation," said Nikhil Bedi, a partner with Deloitte India.

($1 = 69.8950 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Adrian Croft)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

7 BDO ATMs compromised in skimming: official

 

Executive says bank has disabled compromised cards

MANILA - An official of BDO Unibank on Wednesday confirmed before a senate inquiry that seven of its automated teller machines were compromised in recent skimming hacks.

"The recent events are connected to three separate fraud events that have recently come to the bank’s attention, and they affected 7 ATMs. The seven ATMs are from three locations," BDO Executive Vice President Edwin Romualdo Reyes told lawmakers in a hearing of the Senate committee on Banks, Financial Institutions and Currencies.

Reyes did not disclose locations of the compromised machines




Reyes said the skimming incident represents only 0.02 percent of its total 3,700 ATMs across the country.

BDO, the country's largest lender, called on depositors last week to report cases of ATM "skimming," just one week after an "internal error" paralyzed electronic services of rival Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).


 Reyes said 95 complaints from clients have reached the bank and that BDO has disabled cards which may have been compromised.

Under the skimming scheme, a device is attached to a machine that reads and records details embedded in the magnetic strips at the back of an ATM card during a transaction.

A complementing device, meanwhile, records the user's personal identification number (PIN). The details then are combined to create fake cards that may be used to withdraw or purchase items.

Reyes described the magnetic strip as "a 50-year old technology," and that "attempts to defraud it are as old." He said new technology has made these illegal devices cheap and easy to produce and obtain.

Apart from this, he said, a new skimming scheme was also on the rise.

Called "deep insert skimming," the method would be "undetected and will not be visible in conventional anti-skimming protection" systems, he said.

To remedy this, the executive said BDO was upgrading its ATMs.

The bank, he added, will "reimburse all clients affected by unauthorized withdrawals... subject to existing investigation and reimbursement processes."

Reyes said affected customers should file their complaints through proper bank channels, adding that "social media posts and activities will not be actionable from the bank's side without a formal filing."

Affected customers, he added, may have their cards replaced for free.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

BDO asks depositors to report alleged ATM fraud

MANILA - BDO Unibank, the country's largest lender, said Friday it received reports of alleged ATM fraud and urged depositors who think they were affected to have their cases investigated by the bank.

Social media posts circulated this week purportedly showed how some depositors lost money due to "skimming" or copying of account details through hijacked ATM machines.

"BDO has obtained reports of potentially compromised ATM following reported losses from cardholders," the bank said in a statement.

"Customers with unauthorized transactions may reach out to the bank via formal channels so that their cases may be properly investigated and, where confirmed as impacted, may be reimbursed," it said.

The bank owned by the country's richest man, Henry Sy, said "all efforts" were being made to keep accounts safe.

The ATM fraud reports came a week after Bank of the Philippine Islands' electronic services were paralyzed for 2 days due to what it said was an "internal" glitch.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

BPI says services to 'normalize' on Friday

MANILA - Bank of the Philippine Islands said Friday it expected services to "normalize" within the day, as it reeled from a two-day disruption that inconvenienced customers.

Electronic channels have been hit with high traffic volumes since being restored at 9 a.m. on Thursday, which may lead to "intermittent difficulties," the bank said in a statement.

"We expect our services to normalize as the day progresses, and thank you for your patience and understanding," the bank said.

The bank said ATM and over-the-counter transactions were available.

Banks expect high transaction volumes on Friday due to the long weekend. Monday is a public holiday for Independence Day.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

PH banks' schedule during Holy Week 2015

MANILA, Philippines – Wondering which banks will be open during Holy Week?

Several banks have issued their Holy Week advisory, saying they will only be open until April 1 (Wednesday).

However, the banks assured their ATMs and electronic channels will be ready to handle transactions and other banking services.

Bank of the Philippine Islands

All branches and kiosks of BPI and BPI Family Savings Bank will be closed from April 2, Thursday to April 5, Sunday. Regular banking operations shall resume on Monday, April 6.

BDO Unibank

All BDO branches will be open to service the banking needs of the clients and the general public until Wednesday (April 1). Regular banking operations will resume on April 6.

Philippine Savings Bank

PSBank said its 246 branches will be closed after regular banking hours on April 1, Wednesday, and will resume regular operations on April 6, Monday.

“We ensure that our ATMs will have adequate cash for the long weekend. A dedicated team will also monitor and make sure that all ATMs will remain fully functional and accessible,” said PSBank Branch Banking Group Head/FVP Francis Llanera.

UCPB

UCPB branches will be closed from April 2 to 4 (Thursday to Saturday). Banking operations will resume on April 6, Monday.

Security Bank

Security Bank branches will be closed starting April 2, Thursday, and normal operations will resume on April 6, Monday. Exception to this schedule are Security Bank NAIA Branch which will be open from April 2 to 4 and Security Bank Sta. Elena Branch at 168 Shopping Mall, Binondo, Manila which will be open on April 5.

During these days, Security Bank Online and all Security Bank ATMs are available to serve customers’ banking needs.

Philippine Veterans Bank

Philippine Veterans Bank branches will be closed from April 2, Thursday up to April 4, Saturday. Its ATMs, however, will be fully stocked for the long weekend. Banking operations will resume on April 6, Monday.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PH banks to unify ATM networks

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said banks have agreed to unify their ATM networks for efficiency and lower cost.

This means consumers may soon see lower ATM fees.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco said the Bankers Association of the Philippines, Bancnet and Megalink will formalize the consolidation of the two ATM networks next week.

Consumers are currently charged P10-P15 when they withdraw from other banks' ATM units.

Other fees are also applied for balance inquiry and other services.

Latest BSP data showed the number of ATMs rose 11 percent to over 15,187 by end September last year. - ANC

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Banks to be hit with Microsoft costs for running outdated ATMs

Microsoft withdraws support for Windows XP on April 8

LONDON/NEW YORK - Banks around the world, consumed with meeting more stringent capital regulations, will miss a deadline to upgrade outdated software for automated teller machines (ATMs) and face additional costs to Microsoft to keep them secure.

The U.S. software company first warned that it was planning to end support for Windows XP in 2007, but only one-third of the world's 2.2 million ATMs which use the system will have been upgraded to a new platform, such as Windows 7 by the April deadline, according to NCR, one of the biggest ATM makers.

To ensure the machines are protected against viruses and hackers many banks have agreed deals with Microsoft to continue supporting their ATMs until they are upgraded, extra costs and negotiations that were avoidable but are now likely to be a distraction for bank executives.

"There are certainly large enterprise customers who haven’t finished their migrations yet and are purchasing custom support," a spokesman for Microsoft said, declining to name those customers or to quantify the extra revenue it is earning.

“The cost will depend on both the specific needs of the customer and what support they already have in place, so it’s different for every customer.”

Britain's five biggest banks - Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and Santander UK - either have, or are in the process of negotiating, extended support contracts with Microsoft.

The cost of extending support and upgrading to a new platform for each of Britain's main banks would be in the region of 50 to 60 million pounds ($100 million), according to Sridhar Athreya, London-based head of financial services advisory at technology firm SunGard Consulting, an estimate corroborated by a source at one of the banks.

Athreya said banks have left it late to upgrade systems after being overwhelmed by new regulatory demands in the wake of the 2007-08 financial crisis.

"They were probably not very serious about the directive that came in from Microsoft. There's a lot of change going on at these banks at this moment in time and they would have seen Windows XP as one more change," he said.

Windows XP currently supports around 95 percent of the world's ATMs.

About 440,000 - or one-fifth of the world's ATMs - are located in the United States and many of the banks operating them will still be running their ATMs with Windows XP for a while after the April 8 deadline, said Doug Johnson, vice president for risk management policy at the American Bankers Association.

"One thing in our favour is that XP is battle-hardened," Johnson said. "People will benefit from years of fine-tuning of XP...It has been through wars."

STAND IN LINE

The queue of banks waiting to upgrade means there aren't enough people to do the work.

"There is a little bit of a bottle-neck," said Johnson.

Some banks are using the upgrade as an opportunity to introduce new features to their ATMs such as being able to read cards that have microchips rather than magnetic stripes.

Banks in the United States, where the old-fashioned swipe and sign magnetic stripe credit cards are still in use, have to upgrade their ATMs to read chip cards.

JPMorgan, which has 19,200 ATMs, will start converting its machines to Windows 7 in July, with a goal of finishing by the end of the year. With the change, JPMorgan expects to improve data encryption and ensure machines take software upgrades more efficiently and be offline for less time.

A spokeswoman for the bank declined to say how much JPMorgan is paying Microsoft for the extended XP coverage.

Bank of America also said it would ask Microsoft to extend support for its machines still running on Windows XP.

Citigroup Inc, C.N which has more than 12,000 ATMs worldwide, said it is in the process of upgrading its machines from XP and declined to give further details.

In Britain, RBS, which has been hit by a succession of IT problems, has agreed a fee with Microsoft in return for it continuing to support its 9,000 ATMs for up to three years, a source familiar with the arrangement told Reuters.

RBS will begin upgrading its ATMs to run on Windows 7 next year and expects to complete the process within three years, the source said. The investment is part of the 1.4 billion pounds each year which new Chief Executive Ross McEwan has committed in order to improve the bank's computer systems.

McEwan admitted in December that RBS had neglected its technology for decades.

Lloyds said it had agreed to pay Microsoft an undisclosed amount to extend support until 2016 while it upgrades its 7,000 ATMs. The bank will start upgrading its ATMs later this year.

HSBC, which has 3,200 ATMs, said it was two years into a three-year programme of upgrades which it expects to complete next year. It had also reached a deal with Microsoft.

Barclays, which has 4,300 ATMs, said it was still negotiating with Microsoft while Santander UK, which has 2,370 ATMs, said it had already agreed a deal.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How BDO is combating debit card fraud

MANILA, Philippines – BDO Unibank Inc. has tapped a new software solution to detect, prevent and significantly reduce fraud on debit cards.

The bank said it will use FICO's Falcon Fraud Manager, one of the world's leading analytics and decision management software firms, to analyze cardholder account transactions against fraud profiles on a real-time basis.

BDO senior vice president and head for transaction banking Emmanuel Narciso said the new software will boost not only security of clients who use debit cards for purchase and payment transactions but also the use of online payments.

"We're aiming for significantly increased purchase usage among our debit cardholders. Our success will depend largely on our ability to assure customers that they can use their cards, both online and in stores, to make purchases in an easy, safe, and secure manner," he said.

FICO's studies showed that there is a growing number of payment card fraud over the last two years in the Philippines, coinciding with the rapid growth of card adoption and usage.

Banks are therefore more cautious about growing card portfolios too quickly without effective fraud controls in place.

In 2013, banks lost as much as P220 million to ATM fraud.

"By building its debit card program upon the industry's most advanced fraud detection solution, BDO is backing its commitment to protect its customers so they can fully enjoy the convenience of their debit cards, just as they do their credit cards," said FICO president for Asia Pacific Dan McConaghy.

BDO ATM debit cards allow clients to withdraw cash through BDO, Expressnet, MegaLink and BancNet ATMs nationwide and through MasterCard/Cirrus and Visa/Plus ATMs worldwide (for MasterCard and VISA ATM Debit Card, and pay without cash for purchases, goods and services at major establishments nationwide and abroad (for MasterCard and VISA ATM Debit Card).

Clients can also view balance information, transfer money, pay bills and buy prepaid mobile reloads anytime, anywhere using BDO's electronic channels.

 source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Victim loses P131,000 to ATM fraud

MANILA, Philippines -- Jordinette Pacia was surprised by a call from her bank informing her of suspicious withdrawals from her account amounting to more than P131,000.

"P131,000 [ang] nailabas in one day at sa ibang bansa," Pacia told ANC, adding she was in shock after finding out her savings account only had P18,000 left after the "suspicious" withdrawals.

Bank records showed to Pacia stated there were 50 withdrawals all done on March 11 and in Bulgaria.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Pacia may have been a victim of ATM skimming or cloning.

"[Pwedeng] may mga skimming device na nailagay dun sa machine, then pag pasok niya nung card, nakopya yung information, naclone na yung card," Teresita Lisama, head of financial consumer affairs at BSP, told ANC.

But Lisama stressed Pacia's money should be returned if it is proven that she knew nothing about the transactions.

Sought for comment, Pacia's bank, BDO Unibank Inc., said it is already conducting an investigation into the incident. BDO added such has been a common problem for all banks and it is currently strengthening its system to avoid more incidents of ATM fraud.

"This is an industry-wide problem affecting all the banks and is not limited to BDO and its systems. We have already taken steps to secure our ATMS from such fraud attempts," BDO said.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Banks step up efforts to secure ATMs vs scammers

MANILA, Philippines - BDO Unibank and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co (Metrobank) are stepping up efforts to protect its customers and secure its automated teller machines (ATM), after an international syndicate has reportedly been withdrawing money from ATM accounts of bank customers using card skimming devices.

In a statement, BDO said they have been working with the authorities to protect its clients and the public. The Henry Sy-led bank emphasized the fraud-related problems are an industry-wide problem and not just limited to BDO and its systems.

"We have taken steps as early as 3rd quarter of 2012 to secure our ATMs from such fraud attempts, such as installation of pin pad shields, use of enhanced card bezels, and daily inspections. Notwithstanding the above mentioned, we are taking extra measures that will allow us to detect and prevent fraudulent transactions as they occur like the constant security monitoring on transactions coming from identified high-risk countries," BDO said.

Metrobank said it has been taking steps as early as 2011 to make its ATMs more resistant to fraud.

"These include measures to prevent fraud perpetrators from copying the card information and capturing the PIN (Personal Information Number) sequence," Mark Perez, Head of the Retail Banking Group of Metrobank, saidin a statement.

BDO and Metrobank urged their customers to take the necessary precautions when using ATMs.

"But to be fully effective against this global modus operandi, we cannot over-emphasize the importance of customer vigilance, especially in protecting their PINs," Perez said.

BDO said customers should take the following precautionary actions:

    Transactors at any ATM should make it a habit to cover their hand when entering their ATM PIN.
    Regular habit of changing the PIN
    Avoiding the use of ATMs in high-risk areas

BDO said ATM account holders should contact its branches if any to contact our branches should they notice some irregularities so that we can act on resolving these quickly to minimize inconvenience.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

BDO denies P2 fee for all ATM withdrawals

MANILA, Philippines - BDO Unibank Inc. on Monday denied a report that it will start imposing a P2 fee for all cash withdrawals on its ATMs.

BDO clarified that a P2 fee will only be imposed for ATM withdrawals using cash (debit) cards or BDO pre-paid cards, starting September 1. At present, users of BDO's re-loadable Cash Card are not charged for balance inquiry and withdrawals from BDO ATMs.

"The P2 fee will only be effective on withdrawals of clients using cash cards (or BDO prepaid cards), similar to what other industry players are implementing. This is to partially recover our cost on cash handling. BDO account holders are not affected by this development," Jaime Nasol, head of BDO's cash management services, said, in a statement.

A cash card is a re-loadable prepaid electronic debit card, such as BDO Cash Card. Other similar cards are BPI Express Cash and Smart's Smart Money.

The Sy-led bank was reacting to a report published on TV5's news website Interaksyon titled "BDO imposes P2 fee for every depositor's ATM withdrawal." The report claimed that starting September 1, BDO depositors will be charged P2 for each time he will withdraw money from BDO ATMs.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Ride a black taxi in Davao City, pay your fare via ATM card

Twenty-five unconventionally colored black taxis that are safer for passengers and allow you to pay your fare via automated teller machine (ATM) cards have become the talk of the town in Davao City.

The transport innovation was the idea of Pierre Ryan Tan, assistant manager of Mabuhay Taxi, who thought of addressing the passengers' common complaints against taxi drivers who do not give exact change.

The taxis will accept payments from Bancnet and Megalink ATM and debit cards.

The cabs are also safer for passengers because they have a Global Positioning System tracking device that will automatically give information on the current location of the vehicles, according to Tan.

"It also has an emergency button. It has a security feature that will automatically inform us of the driver's location, engine on, engine off," added Tan.

Leoloy Nahi-al said that the innovation would not only benefit the riding public but the drivers of the black taxis like him, as well.


"I think our income will also increase...commuters won't have second thoughts riding a taxi because they can use their ATM in case they don't have cash," Nahi-al said in Filipino. - with Aliana Gimena

source: interaksyon.com