Thieves Steal $45 Million from ATMs (To Be Fair: ATMs in Delis and Bars Must “Steal” About That in $3 ATM Fees)

Law enforcement officials now believe that earlier this winter, a troupe of tech-savvy thieves—a handful of whom are now in police custody—pilfered $45 million from ATMs in 27 different countries. (And the Belgian jewel plunderers thought they already had on lockdown this week’s “No, We’re Not Condoning Crime But If You Had to Describe Something Illegal as ‘Kind of Awesome’ Then This Would Be It” Award. Sorry, boys.) CNBC has more on the logistics of the ATM larceny:

Hackers got into bank databases, eliminated withdrawal limits on pre-paid debit cards and created access codes. Others loaded that data onto any plastic card with a magnetic stripe—an old hotel key card or an expired credit card worked fine as long as it carried the account data and correct access codes. A network of operatives then fanned out to rapidly withdraw money in multiple cities, authorities said. The cells would take a cut of the money, then launder it through expensive purchases or ship it wholesale to the global ringleaders.

Fortunately, no “individual or business accounts” were targeted—just “funds held by the banks [in this case, Rakbank and Bank of Muscat] that back up prepaid credit cards.” Unfortunately, this means that “ATM thieves” does not qualify as a plausible explanation for the distressing void that is your savings account.

SOURCE : http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/05/thieves-steal-45-million-from-atms-to-be-fair-atms-in-delis-and-bars-must-steal-about-that-in-3-atm-fees