FBI Warns Of Massive ATM Scam That May Affect Banks Globally

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has put out a warning for banks recently, claiming that cybercriminals may be soon attempting to bypass security measures on ATMs and obtain huge amounts of money, which is called as an “ATM cash-out”. This may be one of the most dangerous and impactful heists in the world, if conducted successfully. The FBI had revealed this to banks on Friday, stating that it had received unspecified reports regarding the “cash-out” operation. FBI has not issued any further details regarding this warning.

The “cash-out” is an unlimited operation which compromises payment processors or financial institutions by installing malware, which gives hackers a free rein to exploit access to networks, permitting access at the administrator level. From thereon, the hackers may be able to disable fraud protection, withdraw large sums of money, and raise transaction limits and maximum withdrawal amounts. The only thing they would need to do is attacking the credit and debit card numbers, which can be found on the dark web, as well as dummy cards to attach these numbers to. The FBI stated that the hackers create fraud copies of legitimate cards, sending the original data to their co-conspirators, who imprint these numbers on reusable magnetic strip cards. The co-conspirators can then withdraw huge amounts from the ATMs by using these cards. These attacks are mostly carried out on weekends, however no timeline has been determined regarding the “cash-out”.

Meanwhile, hackers have been hard at work in Oklahoma, with a device for reading magnetic strips as well as chips on cards found in a Bank of Oklahoma ATM in the vicinity of the Tulsa Hills shopping area, near the 71^st and Highway 75. The device was found on Sunday; however, it had been there for a very short period of time. Officials have stated that they did not find any evidence of anyone’s information being compromised. The Tulsa police have said that indoor ATMs carry a significantly lower risk of being attacked.