Status: 01/13/2023 09:14 a.m
Statistically, at least one ATM is blown up every day in Germany. The BKA expects a new high in 2022. What is behind it – and how are the banks reacting?
A few examples from the past few days: Criminals blew up an ATM in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as in Aschaffenburg in Bavaria. At the weekend, this happened twice within 24 hours in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony. At the end of last week, ATMs exploded in Rottenburg, Dortmund and Wetzlar, for example.
The explosions have been piling up for several months. An exact picture of the situation for 2022 is not yet available. However, it is already clear that last year more ATMs were blown up than ever before, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office. “In some cases, up to five ATMs were blown up in one night across Germany.” So far, 2020 has been a record year, with a total of 414 machines blown up. In 2021, the number of attacks fell slightly, now it is rising to a new high. Why is that?
glue and paint
“There is a shift to Germany,” explains Bastian Kipping, chief inspector at the Rhineland-Palatinate State Criminal Police Office. Many suspects come from the Netherlands and also from France. In recent years, both countries have upgraded their ATMs with “adhesive technology and coloring systems”. Means: The stolen cash is made unusable either by glue or paint. These measures are not yet widespread in Germany. “The perpetrators exploit this mercilessly,” says Kipping.
A focus for the perpetrators from neighboring countries is therefore – due to the proximity of the border – in western Germany. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, according to the State Criminal Police Office there, there were more than 180 attacks against ATMs with explosives last year, around 30 more than in the previous year. In Rhineland-Palatinate, the number of ATM demolitions has more than doubled: 56 in 2022, compared to 23 the year before.
A blown up ATM can be seen in a bank building in Heidelberg.
Image: dpa
The Germans’ love of cash
An important factor here is the amount of cash circulating in Germany. “Germans love their cash,” says Kipping. “In the Netherlands, card payments are much more common.” Of course, there are also weaknesses that criminals exploit. But the cash makes Germany a worthwhile target for criminals. This is solely due to the fact that the number of ATMs in Germany is very high at more than 55,000. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, according to the German banking industry, it is in the “low four-digit range”. Last but not least, the German machines are usually filled with more cash than in neighboring countries.
The attacks themselves are becoming increasingly dangerous. According to the BKA, the perpetrators usually use so-called solid explosives, including home-made explosives, in addition to explosive gas mixtures. “With these solid explosives, the explosive effect can be estimated even worse than with gases,” says Chief Inspector Kipping. The resulting force can be devastating. “The fact that the danger is increasing is also reflected in the damage to property. It’s getting bigger and bigger,” reports Kipping.
Banks dismantle ATMs
The actions of the perpetrators are a race against time for the banks. “Three or four years ago gas was used almost exclusively for the blasting,” says Kipping. As a result, many banks upgraded and installed devices in their machines that can neutralize the gas. But that’s no use against the solid explosives that are now being used. The perpetrators have adjusted their approach, their “modus operandi”, as the BKA also reports.
The banks therefore want to increasingly rely on video surveillance and intruder alarms as well as paint and glue in the ATMs. In November 2022, at a meeting with the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the German banks had agreed to greater prevention. The ministry observed the development of the blasts with “great concern,” it said at the time. The success of the measures is to be reviewed in the middle of this year. “The problem is: We simply have too many machines to convert at short notice,” says LKA spokesman Kipping.
More and more banks are therefore dismantling ATMs. Others close their branches overnight. Since the beginning of the year, this has been the case with the 23 branches of Sparkasse Mecklenburg-Schwerin, but also in some other regions of Germany. For the banks, however, this is considered a last resort. Because if the store is completely closed, customers with their bank cards will no longer have access at night.
In 2021, the perpetrators stole almost 20 million euros
In any case, the pressure on the banks to act is likely to remain high: because of the danger to bystanders – and not least the costs of the blasting. Figures for the past year are not yet available. In 2021, the perpetrators stole almost 20 million euros by blowing up ATMs in Germany. Significantly higher, however, are the costs of property damage caused by the blasting. In 2021, according to BKA estimates, they were in the mid double-digit million range. In 2022, a few million more are likely to be added.