A dissertation submitted in partial/fulfilment of the requirement for Award of
Master’s Degree of Science in Accounting and Finance of Mzumbe University
This study was on ATM fraud and its impacts to Financial Institutions with NMB and
CRDB banks as case of focus. The study was focusing on four specific objectives which
were to: (i) analyze method through which customers‟ knowledge on ATM Frauds was
acquired; (ii) analyze detection and protection methods used by financial institutions to
control ATM frauds; (iii) determine the impacts of ATM frauds to the financial
institutions and costumers, and (iv) find out strategies to adopt in order to improve ATM
services.
The study was conducted in Arusha region where 98 respondents, 75.5% of them being
bank customers and 25.5% being bank officers, were selected using both non probability
and purposive sampling methods. Data was collected by survey, interview and
documentary review methods and in turn analyzed using SPSS 14.0 program version.
The findings of this study showed that majority of the bank customers were aware of
ATM frauds information, and they acquired this information from different sources such
as media, fliers, billboards, and awareness campaigns. In addition, it was also discovered
that bank institutions use different methods as control and protection mechanisms against
ATM frauds, although most of these methods have been said to be ineffective in dealing
with the emerging ATM fraud incidences. Furthermore, the study has found out that
ATM frauds have numerous negative impacts not only ATM users but also to the
Financial institutions.
The recommended the following in order to improve and enhance control of ATM frauds
incidences in Tanzania and Arusha in particular and they included; enhancing ATM
security through adoption of sophisticated technological means, enhancing corporation
among stakeholders such as law enforcing organs in order to establish laws and
regulations that should favor both ATM service providers and users in dealing with
frauds incidences, monthly checking of bank statements closely and reporting any
discrepancies to the responsible bank as earlier as possible, improve ATM services in
order to preserve their reputation and credibility toward their service users, make
additional efforts to raise ATM users‟ awareness on best use of ATM services and
appropriate protection and control measures against ATM frauds.