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A Latin American gang is believed to be behind a spate of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) "hijacks" involving more than RM800,000 being stolen from banks in Selangor and Johor over the last 24 hours.
The gang was said to have used a high tech software and modified mobile SIM card to bypass the ATM system and "empty" the ATM machines through multiple cash withdrawals done by its members.
Two of the cases were reported in Selangor and one in Johor according to police. The police added that this is the first reported case of money being stolen from ATM machines using such a method.
The first incident was reported in Batu Pahat, Johor at about 9.48am yesterday where the gang managed to withdraw RM265,000 through a series of withdrawals after it managed to hack into the ATM system.
The gang left behind only RM5,103 in the machine.
Their actions were recorded on closed circuit television cameras (CCTV).
It is believed that the software used by the gang, coupled with the "altered" mobile SIM card, had allowed them to override the withdrawal limit, which is usually set at a maximum of RM10,000 per account.
Police said two more incidents occurred in Selangor, specifically Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya about eight hours later.
The criminals, believed to be from the same gang which had struck in Johor, made off with about RM610,000 using the same modus operandi.
Subang Jaya police chief assistant commissioner of police Yahya Ramli told Bernama that in the incident, the men withdrew money from two ATMs hundreds of times in one day.
He said the case is now being investigated under Section 4(1) of the Computer Criminal Act 1997.
“This is the first time such a modus operandi has been used. The suspects hacked into the ATM system to get to the money without having to break open the machine,” he added, according to Bernama.
The suspects were believed to have made 137 withdrawals at around 5.30pm in Subang Jaya yesterday.
The bank management only realised that something was not right when they conducted a check on the particular ATMs.
The same thing also happened at two ATMs in Petaling Jaya at about the same time yesterday.
Petaling Jaya police chief assistant commissioner Azmi Abu Kassim said CCTV checks showed the suspects had opened the top of the two ATMs and had inserted something in it at midnight.
A total of RM303,000 was missing from the affected ATMs. – September 28, 2014.