Posted on 02/08/2009 11:06:36 PM PST by LibWhacker
The FBI has released pictures of two suspects linked to a multi-million dollar ATM heist.
The man and a woman are thought to be street-level accomplices in a global cash machine heist the netted $9m from 130 ATM machines in 49 cities around the globe in a co-ordinated attack that lasted just hours. Investigators reckon the gang used data stolen from RBS WorldPay to create counterfeit payroll cards. These bogus cards were subsequently used to withdraw money from machines across the US as well as Montreal, Moscow, and Hong Kong on the night of 8 November 2008.
Around 100 payroll debit cards — which some firms use to pay wages - were used in the heist but cybercriminals were able to exploit weaknesses in the system to withdraw many times the nominal limit on each card, Fox News reports.
RBS WorldPay admitted in late December that the records of 1.5 million people had been exposed in a hacking attack investigators are linked to the ATM raids.
The FBI pictures show images of a man and a woman withdrawing money from a bank branch in Matteson and a Walgreens in Calumet City, Illinois, the Chicago Tribune reports. ®
This is the kind of things movies are made of. I love a good heist story, and this one has to involve some very well connected group. The mafia couldn’t even pull this off back in the day.
Almost surely state-sponsored.
I agree.
Not RBS’s biggest problem. Alas.
Masterminded by Obama, no doubt, in an effort to save the American economy.
That averages out to about 70K per ATM. Must have drained each one dry.
Some of Obama’s buddies?
Didn’t know ATMs had that much in them!
This all happened on Nov 8, which was a Saturday. Are ATMs replenished on Saturdays?
Hmmm, I’m surprised you can take out $70K in 30 minutes. The limit at my bank is $500. So I’d have to make 140 withdrawals, at least a couple of hours work!
This happened the first Saturday after the election. Hmmmm...
I’ll bet the cards were all from employers that make their payroll deposit at midnight Friday night. The timing was planned to get to the money before the employee tried to withdraw it. Other stories say the limit per withdrawal was upped to 500 so, as you observed, these were some pretty busy folks.
Another complication would be protection and shooing away spectators. You’d need guys there with you with muscle, while you pulled out $70,000 to make sure that a) you didn’t attract an audience of curious onlookers and b) you didn’t get mugged ($70,000 is alot of $10s and $20s) and c) you could carry it all away and d) to deal with the occasional other bank user who wanted to use the machine for a quick withdrawal and e) act as a lookout for cops and security.
I’m guessing a minimum of six guys per ATM working in rotation and each travelling in different directions once done.
Any of your larger street gangs could organize that, if they are big enough to have international affiliates.
More likely a terrorist organization like AQ.
Obama’s and his bro’s fault.
(Wish I had photo shop)
If the suspects that we catch in the US were “rendered” to the right countries, we could follow the chain.
We may need waterboarding for some criminal offenses.
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