I'm not sure about ATMs, many banks in Germany have them inside a foyer you access with your cards. I assume outside ATMs a) angle cameras upwards so they film

I'm not sure about ATMs, many banks in Germany have them inside a foyer you access with your cards. I assume outside ATMs a) angle cameras upwards so they film the person in front of it but will hardly capture someone that's walking by half a meter behind them, b) only film during a transaction, and aren't "surveilling" the area by being always-on. I don't know though. In Germany, you're also partially liable for accidents that happen due to side-walk maintenance (which is a stupid idea imho because many people just don't care, so you end up with lots of icy sidewalks in winter). But Germany is generally cheap on damages, so if someone falls in front of your house and breaks their wrist and cannot work fully, you'd pay a few thousand Euros at most. Since you'd need to actually prove damages in court, and would need to actually break your bones etc, I haven't heard of scams in that regard. Might happen occasionally, but it's not a common thing.