Attention: Police warn of dangerous fraud at ATMs!

Attention: Police warn of dangerous fraud at ATMs!

In Binz, a popular holiday resort on the Baltic Sea, the police sound the alarm and warn of a perfidious scam when withdrawing cash. The incident, which made headlines at the end of July this year, involved a 49-year-old man who discovered tampering with an ATM. After he didn't receive any money from the dispensing slot, he informed the police, who immediately began an investigation into attempted fraud and theft. According to fr.de reports that ... there is an increased risk for tourists who withdraw cash from ATMs, particularly due to vacations.

In this scam, known as “cash trapping,” the perpetrators use special disguises to dispensing money. These tampered parts hold the money in the slot while the user mistakenly believes that the machine is not working properly. The effective trick: The inside of the veneer is covered with adhesive film that prevents the money from being collected. The Sparkasse has already informed about this fraud and provides tips for prevention.

Important safety information

The police have clear advice on how consumers should react in such situations. Those interested should pay attention to unusual output slots or loose parts. If the machine shows a payout but does not dispense any money, it is important to remain calm and call the bank or the police immediately - handling the machine yourself should be avoided at all costs.

In addition, there are always new methods used by criminal gangs to obtain user data. Manipulated card readers and counterfeit front panels are no longer uncommon. These devices visually adapt to the ATM, so that to the unsuspecting user it appears as if everything is fine. Inserted bank cards are transported through the illegal reader and the PIN entries are recorded with cameras that are often installed above the keyboard. polizei-beratung.de informs that... extreme caution is required when using ATMs.

The trend towards cashlessness

While cash use is slowly declining in Germany, current statistics from the Deutsche Bundesbank show that in 2023, 50% of all transactions were still carried out with cash. However, the trend is towards cashless payment methods, which presents bands with new challenges. pd-bs.polizei-nds.de emphasizes that... crime in this area leads to millions in losses for customers and banks every year.

To counteract this, the Braunschweig Police Department has developed a demonstration ATM that shows citizens how fraudsters operate. Such initiatives are intended to help people to handle cash transactions more safely in the future and to take simple precautionary measures to heart.