PETALING JAYA, Sept 30 — The sophisticated theft of RM1.73 million from eight automated teller machines (ATM) belonging to two banks gave police reason to turn their attention on the machine vendors.
Police sources said they would interview vendors of the machines broken into in the Klang Valley, Johor Baru and Malacca, because of the nature of the high-tech theft, a first in Malaysia.
Based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera recordings, police described the suspects as Latin Americans.
“The thieves knew the machines too well as though they were taught how to hack into the machines,” one source said.
Six ATMs from Affin Bank were hit on Friday and Saturday, and yesterday afternoon, two ATM machines — Al Rajhi Bank in Kota Damansara and Section 9, Shah Alam — were cleared of RM418,000.
Suspecting more such incidents, Affin Bank put in place additional security measures at all their branches and offsite locations.
A police forensics team, investigating the Affin Bank’s USJ/10 branch in Subang Jaya, said the thieves made 137 withdrawals in two hours on Saturday evening from an ATM.
“The closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras captured the suspect hacking into the ATM and leave the bank only to return in less then 10 minutes,” a source said.
Investigators found in two hours the suspect had gone out several times to change his clothes and wore a cap at all times to mask his face.
The first incident took place on Friday in Johor where the suspects, in several small groups, struck four ATMs of a local bank in Batu Pahat, Johor Baru and Malacca emptying the ATM’s of over close to half a million ringgit.
The bank system did not detect withdrawals and the incident only came to light when a bank officer noticed the reduction of cash in the machine before alerting police the following day.
While police were probing how the suspects pulled off the heist, the thieves continued on their crime spree in Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya, fleeing with RM265,600 and RM303,000 respectively.
CCTV from Johor banks showed the three suspects were fair skinned men, aged between 20 and 30, and between 175cm and 180cm tall.
“We got a clear image of the suspect and are now in the midst of trying to establish his identity,” said the source.
The investigation teams are also checking the CCTV from other banks and those in nearby areas. Fingerprints from the crime scene have also been obtained.
In all the thefts, the ATM’s were not damaged and police recovered a mobile phone sim-card believed to be used during the hacking process at the Subang Jaya bank.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigation Department deputy director Datuk Hamza Taib said police alerted Interpol to seek their assistance in identifying the suspect.
“We are trying to gather as much information as we can on this gang and a task-force has been set up to track them down. For now we know there are at least five of them involved and they are from Latin Amercia and West Asia.
“The banks involved are cooperating with us and we will look if there is any inside job involved.
“An emergency meeting with bank associations and Malaysian Risk Management Task Force is being planned to ensure the best security.”
