US State Departments Overseas Security Advisory Council released their 2014 Crime and Safety Report on Bulgaria. Overall Bulgaria is a welcoming country with few specific threats targeting American citizens, businesses, or organizations. Incidents of crime tend to be concentrated in large urban areas. The average levels for certain types of crime (i.e. car thefts and burglaries) in Bulgaria are comparable to the levels in most EU Member States, but overall unreported crimes remain higher than the EU average. Some victims may not report crimes to police, and some offices may not register certain crimes that are difficult to solve (ex. pickpocketing, petty crimes). Unreported crimes increased for the third consecutive year, with only 42.4 percent of all crimes being reported to the police. According to U.S. law enforcement, Bulgaria is the number one source country for ATM and credit card skimming-related crimes in the world. Until recently, Bulgarian transnational organized criminal groups manufactured the skimming devices and sent their teams to other countries to skim credit cards. These groups then sent the proceeds back to their Bulgarian bosses. There was only a moderate amount of actual skimming in Bulgaria, and these were usually to test the devices prior to deploying them abroad. This trend has changed over the past two years, as Bulgarian criminal groups have increased their operations dramatically both domestically and abroad. More criminal groups are installing skimming devices in Bulgaria not only to test the devices but to profit from the skimmed cards. ATM skimming in Sofia, Varna, and Burgas has increased several-fold. Criminal groups target high volume ATMs, usually around tourist areas or shopping centers. Bulgaria is a key land transit country for the illegal movement of people and contraband, due primarily to its strategic location. This also makes Bulgaria a key transit point for transnational terrorists trying to move by land into Europe, and it highlights the significant responsibility the Bulgarians bear as a chokepoint into the European Union. A large and unprecedented influx of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and North and West African countries challenged the capabilities and effectiveness of the border police and the Bulgarian State Agency for National Security, as there are concerns that this process will allow terrorists to transit the country. Read more at https://osac.gov/Pages/ContentReportDetails.aspx?cid=15201
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 07:00:01 +0000
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