ATM Security - One ISO’s Story
We are constantly bombarded with news reports of ATM’s being ripped out of the ground, “smash and grab” jobs, ATM’s being walked off with, and hackers planting devices to capture card and pin data. But the ATM scam that we experienced takes the cake.
Recently we received a call from one of our merchants in a placement location. They were calling to report that a man had approached them, claiming to be a service tech, and told them that he was there to remove the ATM for repairs. Remove the ATM!!! Sounds pretty obvious to you or me but what about the merchant? How many of them are as aware as ours was in suspecting that this was a scam and not allowing this man access to the ATM?
We, as a company, have decided to take the time to keep our merchants informed of the many types of security issues that they need to be aware of in order to safeguard their ATMs. In this case, we sent a letter out to all of our merchants informing them of the attempted scam and reminding them that if they ever suspect anyone who comes to service their ATMs that they, as merchants, have the right to ask for ID (all of our technicians are required to carry it), deny that person access to the ATM, and to call us to confirm that we have, in fact, sent a technician to their site.
We also keep our merchants informed through monthly mailings, reminding them of the types of scams out there and what to look for such as a person attempting to withdraw cash with more than one card or a new display topper suddenly appearing on their ATM with no warning from us. Keeping our merchants informed is just good business.
Recently we received a call from one of our merchants in a placement location. They were calling to report that a man had approached them, claiming to be a service tech, and told them that he was there to remove the ATM for repairs. Remove the ATM!!! Sounds pretty obvious to you or me but what about the merchant? How many of them are as aware as ours was in suspecting that this was a scam and not allowing this man access to the ATM?
We, as a company, have decided to take the time to keep our merchants informed of the many types of security issues that they need to be aware of in order to safeguard their ATMs. In this case, we sent a letter out to all of our merchants informing them of the attempted scam and reminding them that if they ever suspect anyone who comes to service their ATMs that they, as merchants, have the right to ask for ID (all of our technicians are required to carry it), deny that person access to the ATM, and to call us to confirm that we have, in fact, sent a technician to their site.
We also keep our merchants informed through monthly mailings, reminding them of the types of scams out there and what to look for such as a person attempting to withdraw cash with more than one card or a new display topper suddenly appearing on their ATM with no warning from us. Keeping our merchants informed is just good business.
