A lot of work is being done to ensure financial security but even as stronger systems are being built to keep hackers out, hackers are using sophisticated methods to break those systems and do as they please. The latest example of this comes from Japan where hackers stole $12.7 million from ATMs in under two hours.
The investigation into the hack is ongoing, but so far it has been revealed that the hackers made coordinated ATM withdraws using cloned credit cards, making off with $12.7 million in under two hours.
Police believe that the hackers stole data from a South African bank and then used that information to print close to 1,600 credit cards. These cards were then used to withdraw the maximum amount – 100,000 yen – in nearly 14,000 transactions. It’s believed that up to 100 people were involved in this heist.
The authorities in Japan and South Africa are in touch with the International Criminal Police Organization to find out those responsible for this breach. They could have used skimmers to steal the credit card data before easily reproducing that to create a working stolen credit card.
This is why being extra careful with your credit card is of the utmost importance. Folks in South Africa who may never have set foot in Japan have been affected by this hack, and with credit card information regularly being stolen after cyberattacks on financial institutions and even retailers, it’s only a matter of time before you or someone you know is affected by credit card fraud.
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