One size fits all? Should Europe adopt a single standard ATM cassette?

The European Payments Council (EPC) wants all ATMs in Europe, 398,040 as at the end of 2010 according to the European ATM Security Team, to use a standard cash cassette.  It is claimed that this will lead to substantial savings in the cost of cash, as well as to benefits when integrating Intelligent Banknote Neutralisation Systems (IBNS's), which are activated in the event of a robbery or theft to stain the banknotes with ink.

The EPC is committed to driving for an increase in electronic payments and states that the introduction of a standard ATM cash cassette would be for the medium term to ensure the efficient management of the SEPA ATM infrasructure.

Europol busts international cross border skimming operation

Europol has just had a resounding success in the fight against organised criminals conducting international card skimming operations.  An operation code-named Operation Night Clone has resulted in 61 arrests in 5 countries - including 2 in the USA.  It is estimated that the criminal group targeted caused losses of €50 million as a result of card skimming in the EU, with the majority of these losses occurring outside the EU.  Both Europol and the European ATM Security Team (EAST) have been bringing focus onto the fact that as long as magnetic stripes remain on EU payment cards, these cards will remain vulnerable to skimming.  Both organisations have also noted that an increasing number of skimming related losses from compromised EU cards are now occurring outside the EU, with a growing percentage being seen in the USA.

Reverse PIN Scam is back.......

The other day I was sent an email by a friend who knows that I have something to do with ATM security.  He felt that I needed to know about the message, and he was right..........I was able to let him know that the message is a hoax and to ignore it and not pass it on.  The message in the scam email is below:

PIN advice - good information
ATM PIN Number Reversal - Good to Know!!
If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM
machine, you can notify the police by entering your PIN # in reverse.
For example, if your pin number is 1234, then you would put in 4321.
The ATM system recognizes that your PIN number is backwards from the
ATM card you placed in the machine. The machine will still give you
the money you requested, but unknown to the robber, the police will be
immediately dispatched to the location. All ATM’s carry this emergency
sequencer by law.

This information was recently broadcast on by Crime Stoppers however it
is seldom used because people just don't know about it.

Please pass this along to everyone.

This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving, so pass it
on to your family and friends  

 
To the best of my knowledge this hoax email has been doing the rounds since 2006.  I think that there might be one US State where reverse PIN is being considered, but I am not sure.  If you see it best to break the chain and let others know that it is a hoax.
I recommended that my friend visit the Cardholder Security Tips  page on the website of the European ATM Security Team (EAST) for more information on using an ATM securely.