What is skimming?

The term “skimming” is used for the copying of payment cards by means of a special reading device that the offenders place directly on banks’ ATMs. The thieves thereby obtain information with which they can attempt to steal money from the client’s account.

Am I threatened by card abuse if I take money out from your ATMs? Especially now, before Christmas?

Pre-Christmas shopping, and the withdrawals of the larger sums connected therewith, may make it easier for fraudsters, so there may have been attempts to install fraudulent scanners on ATMs with the aim of abusing cards. We have therefore intensified the monitoring of our ATMs so as to prevent such cases.

Caution and care is required, and we can give you several tips. If you suspect any irregular behaviour of an ATM, we recommend that you do not insert your card at all and inform the Bank or the police.

• Always inspect the ATM from which you plan to make a withdrawal.
• When entering your PIN, make sure that nobody can observe your PIN from behind your back or another point.
• If the ATM is not behaving normally, or if any unusual additional device is attached to it, inform the Bank or the police. Do not make a withdrawal.
• If you encounter problems while making a withdrawal, never accept “help” from other persons (e.g., advice to enter your PIN again).
• If the ATM does not issue the bank notes, make sure that a false cover has not been put over the dispensing slot.

But you definitely need not be afraid to take money out from our ATMs or even stop withdrawing. ATMs are protected with a number of security features - all ATMs have anti-skimming devices and software, and we carry out physical and remote electronic monitoring of the ATMs and preventively block cards if we suspect skimming.

What does the anti-skimming device look like? How will I recognise it?

A skimming device may have different forms. In principle, we can say that if there is anything unusual on the ATM, something that you have not noticed before on it, your radar should go up. The newest models of the skimming devices installed on our ATMs have the same green colour as the security extension placed on the ATM card slot and they can be attached to the extension. The skimmer is also often hidden in a bar that is placed across the width of the ATM, across the card slot and the receipt slot. The camera for filming the PIN is then usually placed in the bar above the screen frame. The bars covering the copying devices are usually rendered in a colour and metal that are very similar to the material from which the ATM is made.

What should I do when I suspect card abuse?

If you have noticed anything unusual on the ATM, do not use it and contact the Bank or the police. If you have used the ATM, we recommend blocking the card using our toll-free information line 800 207 207. If you find out that there are transactions on your statement that you never effected, we recommend you file a complaint. We will investigate your complaint and if we find out that your card has indeed been abused, we will compensate you for the damage in full.

How do you proceed when you discover a skimming device on an ATM?

If we find out that a fraudulent scanner has been installed on our ATM or we suspect its installation, we contact all of the clients who executed a transaction on the ATM during the period concerned, and we inform them that we have preventively blocked their card. If we cannot reach them, we also block their card - in this case, security is the priority.

I have withdrawn money from an ATM where a fraudulent device was installed. Will I lose my money?

That is far from being true in all cases. In order to prevent the theft of your money, we preventively block cards that are potentially threatened. We compensate the damage in full.