Russian suspects in Taiwan ATM cash grab
Print Edition
TWO Russian nationals are suspected of hacking into a Taiwan bank’s ATMs last weekend, using malware to withdraw more than US$2 million from dozens of machines.
Combining cyber crime with daylight robbery after a typhoon battered Taipei, investigators believe they used a cellphone to trigger 41 First Bank ATMs to dispense cash. The suspects, who were filmed on close-circuit TV cameras, took the money and left quickly.
Since discovering the theft on Monday, several of Taiwan’s biggest government-run banks have frozen withdrawals from nearly 1,000 ATMs of the kind used in the heist, supplied by Germany’s Wincor Nixdorf. About 4 percent of Taiwan’s network of 27,200 machines is affected.
The island’s investigation bureau said yesterday that two Russian suspects had been identified, but declined to disclose their names. It said it believed the pair left Taiwan early on Monday, and was still investigating whether a possible third person might have been involved.
“So far we think it could have been done remotely, such as via a cellphone, laptop or hacked First Bank staff PC,” said bureau spokesman Lin Cheng-hsien.
First Bank said NT$70 million (US$2.2 million) was stolen from its ATMs in hits at various times during both day and night. Investigators identified three different malware programs used to trigger withdrawals.
“After testing the malware, we confirmed hacked ATMs will dispense cash immediately according to the malware,” the bureau said in a statement.
The raid on Wincor machines comes as an agreed 1.7-billion-euro (US$1.88 billion) acquisition by US peer Diebold moves closer to its expected closure, to create a global leader in ATMs with a market share of about 35 percent.
Wincor said it had been informed about the Taiwan attacks on its ATMs.
“Attacks follow a similar pattern, irrespective of their make or brand, and we as well as the banks are aware of them,” a Wincor official in Germany said.
“The details of the attack are being examined by the police, banks as well as experts from Wincor Nixdorf. To support the local teams we have sent security experts.”
Officials with Taiwan’s banking regulator, the Banking Bureau, declined to comment on the incident, beyond saying First Bank will have to take the loss. However, it said First Bank’s users customers not be affected and it will ask local banks to establish a monitoring system for their ATMs over the next month.
At least four major financial institutions — First Bank, Chang Hwa Bank, Taiwan Cooperative Bank and Chunghwa Post Co, have suspended withdrawals from their machines as a precaution.
They didn’t say when services would be restored.
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