Eight leading Taiwanese banks have suspended the operation of 900 ATMs after it was revealed that Russian criminals used malware to steal $2.18 million over the weekend.
According to the Straits Times, the robberies took place on Saturday and Sunday, July 9 and 10, 2016, and targeted ATMs at First Bank of Taiwan branches in the cities of Taipei and Taichung.
Following the incident, Bank of Taiwan, Chang Hwa Bank and five other banking institutions announced the suspension of ATM transactions to check them for malware.
The criminals so far appear to have targeted ATMs from Wincor Nixdorf, a German company that manufactures hardware for bank ATMs around the world.
According to Focus Taiwan, authorities investigating the case said that surveillance videos showed two people wearing hats and masks visiting all the ATMs, withdrawing cash from each of them, and then putting it in backpacks they were carrying.
Because the ATMs appeared to dispense money without difficulty, authorities believe that malware was somehow responsible for the robbery. They also suspect that the fraudsters may have had an accomplice from within the bank who facilitated the installation of the malware. They say they have managed to track down one of the fraudsters, who is a Russian national and has been out of the country since Monday, July 11.
