Police in America say they have cracked a sophisticated computer hacking ring that stole £5.3m from ATMs across the globe.
Investigators say the group took money from 2,100 cash machines in at least 280 cities worldwide in a 12-hour crime spree.
The US Justice Department said the individuals hacked into the payroll debit card information of Royal Bank of Scotland's credit card processing company, WorldPay, which is based in Atlanta.
The cards allow workers to withdraw their salaries from ATMs.
They gang then created 44 counterfeit payroll debit cards and used the cards to withdraw money.
In some case the limits on the cards were raised so the maximum amount of cash could be withdrawn, the US government said.
"This investigation has broken the back of one of the most sophisticated computer-hacking rings in the world," said Sally Quillian Yates, the acting US attorney for northern Georgia.
The group, which carried out the heist in November last year, instructed a worldwide network of "cashers" to make a move on the ATMs, US media reported.
The individuals were allowed to keep a proportion of the withdrawn money and give the balance back to the gang.
Eight people from Russia, Estonia and Moldova have been indicted by a grand jury and are in custody.
RBS WorldPay is one of the world's leading payment processing businesses and the allegations raise new questions over the security of global financial systems.
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
