Two automated teller machines (ATM) belonging to the same bank in Johor and Selangor were hacked on Saturday, seeing the perpetrators make off with RM530,600 in cash.
The incidents involved ATMs in twwo Affin Bank outlets – the branch in Batu Pahat, Johor was hit at 9.48am, whille the Subang Jaya, Selangor hacking incident happened at 5.30pm.
The ATM hacking is believed to have been carried out using mobile phone SIM cards and sophisticated technology.
The Star Online reports that Subang Jaya police chief ACP Yahya Ramli believes the heists could be the handiwork of an international syndicate origination from South America.
“The suspects withdrew money hundreds of times from two Affin Bank branches in one day. They stole the money without breaking the ATMs,” he said.
At the Batu Pahat incident, three suspects aged between 20 and 30 made off with a total of RM265,000.
A few hours later, the same methods were employed at the Affin Bank branch in Subang Jaya, where two suspects made 137 withdrawals at 5.30pm.
Police are tracking down the suspects by studying the CCTV footage at the robbed banks, and are investigating the cases under Section 4(1) of the Computer Crime Act 1997.
