Crooks hit 1,400 convenience store ATMs in the space of two hours, using forged ATM cards based on data stolen from a South African bank.
This is the fourth widely coordinated ATM heist I know of: in 2013, $45M was taken in hours, using debit card numbers stolen from the UAE; another heist in 2011 netted $13M in one night, and in 2009, a ATM fraud flashmob took $9M.
As always, my question is how the confederates were organized, and what did they think they were doing? Were they mostly patsies recruited on employment sites to do some kind of plausible-ish transaction?
The theft at convenience store ATMs took place in the morning of May 15 in Tokyo and 16 prefectures across the country, and police believe over 100 people might have coordinated in the unlawful withdrawal.
In each of the approximately 14,000 transactions, the maximum amount of 100,000 yen was withdrawn from Seven Bank ATMs using the fake credit cards, according to the sources.
1.4 bil. yen stolen from 1,400 convenience store ATMs across Japan
[Mainichi News]
(via /.)
(Image: 三井住友銀行ATM, おぉたむすねィく探検隊, CC-BY-SA)
