$45M ATM Heist: Robbers Hack Their Way Into Debit Card Database

A $45M ATM heist has gotten the banking industry and the rest of the world in a state of alarm.

Suspects posing with bundles of cash allegedly stolen from ATMs

In just a few hours, $45 million was stolen by cyber-criminals, who used fabricated debit cards to withdraw from ATM to ATM with ease and without the trouble of putting into consideration the amount and number of withdrawals per day.

According to the US Justice Department, these cards contain encoded stolen data from banks and were then sent to specific groups in 27 countries for use in bank robbery.

More than 4,500 ATM transactions were done in approximately 20 countries around the world, officials said.

"This scheme was organized for months and planned down to the minute, reminiscent of the casino heist in 'Ocean's Eleven,'" said Loretta Lynch, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. "Instead of guns and masks, this cyber crime organization used laptops and malware."

New York prosecutors charged eight men but only seven were arrested. The eighth and the said ringleader, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Pena, was found murdered last month in the Dominican Republic. Those who were arrested will be facing money laundering, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, and money laundering conspiracy charges.

If convicted, the robbers will serve a maximum sentence of 10-year imprisonment on each of the money laundering charges and 7 1/2 years on the conspiracy to commit access device fraud charge, as well as restitution and as much as $250,000 in fines.

"New technologies and the rapid growth of the Internet have eliminated the traditional borders of financial crimes," said Steven Hughes, special agent in charge of the Secret Service office in New York.

However, the banking and finance industry has now worked on more ways to prevent these kinds of attacks. They acquired more sophisticated tools and have experts who are more than willing to give criminals a hard time to even device a flawless plan.