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Flash Mob Steals $9 Million From ATMs
Mike writes "A global flash mob of ATM thieves netted $9 million in fraud against ATMs in 49 cities around the world. The computer system for a company called RBS WorldPay was hacked. One service of the company is the ability for employers to pay employees with the money going directly to a debit card that can be used in any ATM. The hacker was able to infiltrate the supposedly secure system and steal the information necessary to duplicate or clone people's ATM cards. Shortly after midnight Eastern Time on November 8, the FBI believes that dozens of the so-called cashers were used in a coordinated attack on ATMs around the world. Over 130 different ATMs in 49 cities worldwide were accessed in a 30-minute period on November 8. 'We've never seen one this well coordinated,' the FBI said. So far, the FBI has no suspects and has made no arrests (PDF) in this scam."
in other news a flash mob recovered all the rights that have been stolen from the people by their governments over the last few years
Requiem for the American Dream
So, were they on the honor system to funnel the cash back to the 'hacker'? Or was this like winning the lottery?
Would you, could you, in a car? http://v25media.com
I thought flash mobs are groups of people in the same place at the same time. Not all over the world?
$9 Million stolen from a bank? Peanuts compared to the next $900 Billion the banks are stealing back again - a hundred thousand times more.... I can't even get to grips with that scale of money....
Gee, I guess we can rule out any foul play from the bankers. We can trust their integrity.
The article says over $9,000,000 was stolen using only 100 cards in 49 cities in a 30 minute period. That, boys and girls, is $90,000 per card. The article says the limits on the cards were overridden, using them to make withdrawals in multiple increments of $500 or so. $90,000 / $500 is 180 withdrawals in a 30 minute period, or 6 withdrawals per minute.
This article doesn't pass the basic sniff test. It reeks of either disinformation or seriously bad math.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Obvious Man!
Since the M in ATM stands for Machine, saying ATM Machine is redundant.
That's almost as much as John Thain (of Merrill Lynch) thought he should get for securing the bailout funds!
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I need more friends willing to say "Here's this ATM card. At midnight tonight, make as many $500 withdrawals as you can in 30 minutes and put them onto this card. You get to keep half of what's on the card."
Where do you find friends like that?
/humor
greed@All_Evils:~#
They don't look like someone who just won a lottery to me.
They look more like homeless people.
Which brings up the question - why aren't there more homeless people robbing banks out there?
I mean... they are in a clear advantage.
They are invisible AND they have nothing to lose.
Worst case scenario - they get sent to a jail. HA!
3 meals a day, clothing, housing and health-care at the cost of the society.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
zoom out.
Did they hack the ATM machines after stealing the PIN numbers?
I have to go work in some CSS style sheets for a web site that links ISBN numbers to UPC codes. I hope they don't make me redundant.
I wonder what the PIN Number was that they all used in those ATM Machines. Maybe they used a custom PCB Board to prototype the hack. Then they downloaded the plans onto a CD Disc. I'll bet they literally died after they got away with all the cash.
Anyways, I could care less.
A host is a host from coast to coast...
Unless it's down, or slow, or fails to POST!
RBS Worldpay is the Royal Bank of Scotlands Worldpay cheapo net transactions processor. The processor is shit (and expensive), and RBS are basically owned by the UK govt. after the bailout.
So if you use Worldpay on your website, I would get shot of it sharpish. They are the kind of outfit that will have multiple holes in their security. (I used to use their payment processor back in 2002.)
Did he hack the bank across state lines from his home?
That's not a requirement for a federal crime in the US; theft from any federally insured bank (which is almost all of them) is a U.S. federal crime, even if the crime occurred in only one state and even if the bank operates under a state charter.
Redundant Boy!
Also, since the N in PIN stands for Number, saying PIN number is redundant. TFA didn't make this mistake, but since they go together so often I though I'd point it out for completeness.
One time I heard a friend say "I want to get some cash out of the ATM Machine, but I can't remember my PIN Number."
He's dead now.
Hang on a second: That works out to over $69000 per ATM. Do they really have that much cash loaded in each one? I'd be surprised if that's true.
The funniest ATM theft I've heard of took place in Saskatchewan, Canada. This took place on a long weekend in a sleepy little rural town.
4:00 AM sees our thieves breaking into the local gravel contractor. After breaking through the gate they steal a gravel truck and an oxy-acetelene torch. Next stop is the post treating plant about 1/2 mile (1 km) down the highway. They steal a loader. This is what is used to load poles and posts onto semi-trailors.
By now its about 4:15 or so. Did they make noise? Well - a diesel truck and 350 HP diesel loader will make some noise I suppose. It woke some of the locals up.
Around the corner from the bank about one (1) block away is the local police station which is manned 24x7. The police are at their desks thinking the gravel contractor must be getting an early start this morning.
So the thieves drive the loader over to the bank. The reach in through the roof totally demolishing the building and grab the ATM which is firmly bolted to the concrete floor and footings. Seems the concrete wasn't much of a match for the 350 HP loader because the ATM was cleanly plucked through the gapping hole and dropped into the back of the dump truck.
By now the cops were heading for their cars thinking there must have been a big accident on Main Street.
Our thieves meanwhile shut off the loader and hopped into the dump truck and took off.
A few miles south of town they stopped at an abandoned farm yard and took their time with the oxy-acetelene torch and chopped the ATM apart.
Having done this they took the money and casually left the scene of the crime. So far no one has been caught! So far apparently these thieves are keeping their mouths closed. Apparently there are no leads.
The best part of this story is the locals still laugh about their bank robbery! When you live in a sleepy Saskatchewan rural town then once in a while a little excitement spices up an otherwise dreary life.
May I be so bold to suggest that there was no actual "hacking" taking place at all?
By "hacking" I mean the stuff that movies and TV tells us that hacking looks like.
A bespectacled nerd in his teens or early twenties, furiously typing something at his green and black screen filled with lines upon lines of scrolling text, uttering "Come on... come on..." until he suddenly "hacks the Gibson" and a welcome screen appears, upon which he jumps up yelling "YES! I AM INVINCIBLE!".
TFA tells us the following:
Here is the amazing part: With these cashers ready to do their dirty work around the world, the hacker somehow had the ability to lift those limits we all have on our ATM cards. For example, I'm only allowed to take out $500 a day, but the cashers were able to cash once, twice, three times over and over again. When it was all over, they only used 100 cards but they ripped off $9 million.
- known limit - $500
- 100 ATMcards used
- $9 million gone
That comes out to about 90k per card, right?
Does anyone remember that little issue with Tranax ATMs from couple of years ago?
It smells to me that something similar happened here. Someone leaving the ADMIN pass at 55555555 or 12345678.
There was probably no need for hacking cards - they probably left the same limit.
Instead, he/she/or it - just changed the codes for banknotes inside the machine.
So... you just tell the ATM that its 100s are 5s - and then repeatedly ask for 5s.
$500 limit coughs up ~$100.000 +/- couple of earlier withdrawals that already left the machine a few 100s short.
In other words - about $90.000 per card.
The beauty of it?
Those suspects in the photos may be regular Joes and Janes who came later, found the machine giving 100s for 5s - and got caught on camera.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Anyone hoping to pocket a percentage of $9,000,000 by giving a bunch of passwords to a bunch of people you don't know, and then assuming you won't get grassed out to the cops is likely making a major mistake.
If the criminal is smart, a better strategy might be to "give" the information away to the right group of people. This might give someone a smug sense of "revenge" against a former employer. Someone could short the stock in the stock market, or the theft could cover up some insider funny business. The initial criminal act may be different than what it appears.
Alternatively, the actual "inside" mastermind may actually be a victim too. Maybe someone conned an insider for information, or access to a laptop, and just sold the information. Maybe someone got hold of the backup tapes. This might actually a fairly low-value theft for the original criminal.