Thailand's Government Savings Bank (GSB) announced yesterday the closure of 3,300 of its 7,000 ATMs after discovering a robbery that allowed fraudsters to skim off 378,000 US dollars.
The ATM heists took place between August 1 and 8 and targeted automated teller machines manufactured by NCR, a US-based company that manufactures and sells hardware used in the financial market.
After the incident was discovered, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) warned all local banks that own NCR machines. The BoT says there are over 10,000 NCR ATMs across Thailand.
GSB has shut down 47% of its ATMs. The bank has not disabled all NCR ATMs. It has left 600 machines still working, but they are located in well-monitored areas.
According to authorities, the fraudsters have installed malicious software on ATMs that disconnects the machine from the bank's network and returns money to the fraudsters. This software has not yet been identified.
The fraudsters robbed 21 ATMs in Thailand in a total of 6 provinces across the country, acting in groups, late at night.
