Latest update December 9th, 2019 12:00 AM
Ring leader of First Bank ATM heist in Taiwan arrested in Spain
Taipei, One of the ring leaders behind the heist of more than NT$83 million (US$2.85 million) from Taiwan's First Bank ATMs nearly two years ago has been arrested in Spain, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said in a statement Monday.
The complex investigation, which lasted nearly 20 months, was jointly conducted by local authorities and the Spanish National Police, with support from Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) and private cyber security companies, according to the CIB.
Identified only by his name Denys, the Russian native is one of the leaders of the cybercrime syndicate "Cobalt," which has been targeting banks, e-payment systems and financial institutions around the world using a malware it designed, known as Cobalt Strike, since 2016, the bureau said.
The group has so far infiltrated over 100 financial institutions in 40 countries, and stolen nearly 1 billion euros.
A total of 22 suspects from six countries were involved in the high-profile First Bank ATM theft that took place from July 9 to July 11, 2016. Nineteen of the suspects fled the country and were put on a wanted list.
Members of the international ring withdrew money from 51 First Bank ATMs in Taipei, New Taipei and Taichung after using malware to hack into the bank's computer system.
The theft came to light when members of the public in Taipei alerted police after seeing two members of the ring collecting cash being dispensed by an ATM in the middle of the night.
Police were later able to track down and arrest three men -- one who was indirectly involved in the thefts and two who were in Taiwan to recover the money -- while also recovering more than NT$77 million of the stolen cash.
However, nearly NT$5.79 million is still unaccounted for.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel
