Seventh ATM hacked into


PETALING JAYA: A seventh automated teller machine (ATM) was hacked into in the last two days.

In the latest incident discovered on Monday, Latin American hackers carted away some RM300,000 from the Al Rajhi Bank in Jalan PJU 5/14 in Kota Damansara.


Their hacking spree started early Friday at the Affin Bank in Johor and some RM1.2mil have been reported missing from Affin Bank ATMs in Johor, Malacca and Selangor.

But the latest hacking involved an ATM at Al Rajhi Bank.

Petaling Jaya OCPD ACP Azmi Abu Kassim said officers were alerted by the bank after an audit found that a large sum of money were unaccounted for in its ATM on Monday afternoon.

"CCTV footage shows two Latin American men employing the same modus operandi. They inserted a SIM card into the automated teller machine and withdrew money.

"Their facial features suggest they are the same men behind the robberies in Subang Jaya and Jalan Yong Shook Lin," he said.

Police have yet to confirm when the actual hacking and robbery took place.

"I had a meeting with all the bank managers in the district before Raya and suggested to them to employ more guards to watch over the ATMs that were situated outside their premises.

"They said they only have enough funds to employ guards during the night time. I hope they recognise that it is important to engage in security for their ATMs," he told The Star.

It was reported that groups of two or three men would take turns entering the banks and inserting a SIM card into the slot before withdrawing large amounts of money, and repeating the process until the ATM's were almost drained out.

Affin Bank in a statement said there had been no breach or compromise of customer data. Pending the outcome of the police investigation, the bank said, it had immediately put in additional control measures in all ATMs at branches and off-site locations.

"The bank is closely monitoring to ensure that our customers continue to do their banking safely," it said.


Related article: Brazen RM823,000 ATM heist


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