Australia prime skimming target
(23 September 2010 – Australia) Australian police have revealed that Australia’s outdated banking technology has made the nation a known target for ATM skimming gangs.
Detective superintendent and commander of the New South Wales fraud squad, Colin Dyson said that offenders are telling is that Australia is a target because of the level of technology we have.
Mr Dyson said that criminal enterprises were exploiting Australia's use of magnetic strip technology on bank cards, which was inferior to chip-and-pin technology used in other countries.
The chip is, in essence, a computer in itself and that talks to the ATM and if the conversation that the card has with the ATM is not correct, no transaction can be conducted, Mr Dyson said.
No ATM in Australia is currently chip-and-pin enabled. It should have been rolled out by now, highlighted the detective.
Tens of millions of dollars are lost in Australia each year as a result of card skimming.
Mr Dyson made the comments outside the 2010 National Identity Crime Symposium in Brisbane.
The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) said banks guaranteed to return any money lost in card-skimming incidents.
If the customer is an innocent victim of fraud, then the banks will refund losses, said Ian Gilbert, ABA acting chief executive.
Mr Gilbert highlighted that the rollout of chip-and-pin technology involved more than banks.
EFTPOS technology should be upgraded by 2014 and ATMs within two or three years, Mr Gilbert said.
Mr Dyson said that criminal enterprises were exploiting Australia's use of magnetic strip technology on bank cards, which was inferior to chip-and-pin technology used in other countries.
The chip is, in essence, a computer in itself and that talks to the ATM and if the conversation that the card has with the ATM is not correct, no transaction can be conducted, Mr Dyson said.
No ATM in Australia is currently chip-and-pin enabled. It should have been rolled out by now, highlighted the detective.
Tens of millions of dollars are lost in Australia each year as a result of card skimming.
Mr Dyson made the comments outside the 2010 National Identity Crime Symposium in Brisbane.
The Australian Bankers' Association (ABA) said banks guaranteed to return any money lost in card-skimming incidents.
If the customer is an innocent victim of fraud, then the banks will refund losses, said Ian Gilbert, ABA acting chief executive.
Mr Gilbert highlighted that the rollout of chip-and-pin technology involved more than banks.
EFTPOS technology should be upgraded by 2014 and ATMs within two or three years, Mr Gilbert said.
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