An estimated €46 million was stolen in 17 EU states by criminals "skimming" at ATMs in the first nine months of 2004, according to a report issued yesterday.

The London-based European ATM Security Team (EAST) said it had been told of 2,377 card skimming operations at ATMs in the period to end September 2004. It does not release a breakdown for individual countries.

... To skim an ATM criminals attach a device to the card reader entry slot to record magnetic strip details while a miniature camera hidden over the pin pad records the customer's pin number. The information gleaned is then used to take money from the account.

EAST estimated a further €3 million was taken in 2,636 cases of card trapping during the same period.

Card trapping is where a device is used to retain the card inside the ATM while the criminals trick the customer into re-entering the pin number, which the criminal records.

EAST is a body representing parties interested in the ATM industry in 17 EU states. It hopes to expand its activities to all 25 EU states plus Norway and Switzerland, by the end of this year.

A spokeswoman for the Irish Payment Services Organisation, Ms Úna Dillon, said there had been cases of card skimming in the Republic during 2004 but the value of the funds stolen was quite low.

In October there was a gang operating here for a two week period, during which approximately €100,000 was lost.