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Ceska Sporitelna Increases the Intensity of its ATM Monitoring

Ceska Sporitelna has deployed a higher intensity in the monitoring of its ATMs. It can be expected that the approaching Christmas holidays and heightening shopping fever will serve as inspiration for further criminal groups, and there is a possibility of further attacks on ATMs and payment cards in the Czech Republic. This could come in the form of another wave of the copying of cards and their PIN codes at ATMs throughout the country. Ceska Sporitelna is therefore now paying increased attention to monitoring its ATMs located at branches as well as outside of them, and recommends that clients exercise maximum caution and care in withdrawing cash from ATMs. With any suspicion as to the irregular conduct of an ATM, we recommend that clients do not insert their card into the ATM at all and inform the Bank or the police.

It is due to the attentiveness of Ceska Sporitelna’s clients, and with the assistance of the Bank, that on Monday 7 December, the Czech Police apprehended two men in Prague who are suspected of having installed skimming devices on ATMs. The men were found to be in possession of a skimming device and counterfeit cards. 

According to the findings available to the Bank, the latest models of the skimming devices installed on Ceska Sporitelna’s ATMs have the same green colour as the FDI 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 recording 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.

Skimming, or, in other words, the copying of the magnetic strip of cards in ATMs, is a very old method that, unfortunately, continues to develop. Skimming has plagued banks and their clients all over Europe.  Ceska Sporitelna is applying a number of measures to prevent card skimming: from the installation of anti-skimming devices and software in its ATMs, to preventive card blocking in the event of suspected skimming, close cooperation with the police, and the remote physical and electronic monitoring of ATMs. In the run-up to Christmas, Ceska Sporitelna is intensifying the service focused on checking the technical functioning of ATMs and ensuring a sufficient supply of bank notes, as well as security monitoring aimed at skimming prevention.

Ceska Sporitelna has always applied and continues to apply the principle of full compensation for clients’ losses caused by card skimming.

For further information please contact the Press Centre of Ceska sporitelna Financial Group (CSFG):