Criminals steal 1.4 billion yen in coordinated debit card action

In a coordinated action, criminals have stolen 1.4 billion yen, about 11.4 million euros. Within 2.5 hours, the maximum allowed amount of 100,000 yen was withdrawn from 1400 ATMs in Japan.

According to the Japanese police, the action was carried out with counterfeit credit cards. The data on these cards came from a South African bank, which suggests an action by an international criminal organization, The Yomiuri Shimbun reports. The used ATMs were located in convenience stores in 16 different prefectures of Japan. The cash withdrawals took place on a Sunday between 5 and 8 am.

It is unclear who is responsible for this action. The Register reports that a Malaysian gang has been placed on an international watch list. The police want to try to identify the more than a hundred people who took money on the basis of camera images. An attempt is also being made, in collaboration with the South African authorities, via Interpol to find out how the credit card details were leaked.

Transaction data shows that they are about 1600 credit cards. The action came to light after a bank that had installed some of the ATMs made a report.