Eight Eastern Europeans Charged In "Sophisticated" $9 Million ATM Thefts

November 11, 2009 12:36 p.m. EST

Atlanta, GA (AHN) - Eight eastern Europeans have been charged in a 16-count indictment in what federal prosecutors here say was a highly sophisticated computer hacking operation that stole more than $9 million from thousands of ATMs around the world in less than a day.

The nearly year-old crime focused on the computer system at Atlanta-based RBS WorldPay Inc., the payment processing division of Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The indictment charges that thieves electronically broke into the RBS WorldPay system on Nov. 4, 2008, cloned 44 prepaid ATM cards and raised the pay limits of the cards.

The cards were distributed to "cashers" around the U.S. and the rest of the world who withdrew cash from 2,100 ATMs from 280 cities around the world on Nov. 8. The cashers then sent up to 50 percent of the cash back to the ringleaders. The suspects then allegedly tried to erase evidence of the crime.

The operation took no more than 12 hours, according to the indictment. RBS WorldPay detected the breach on Nov. 10 and reported it on Dec. 23.

Those indicted were from Estonia, Russia and Moldova. One man, Sergei Tsurikov, 25, of Tallinn, Estonia, has been arrested and is awaiting extradition.

Estonian police arrested three others earlier this year on related charges.

Charges against four of the conspirators include wire fraud and aggravated identify theft.

Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney general of the criminal division, said in a statement that the ring was "highly sophisticated," and that law enforcement agencies around the world provided "unprecedented" cooperation.

"This investigation has broken the back of one of the most sophisticated computer hacking rings in the world," said Sally Quillian Yates, acting U.S. attorney for the northern district of Georgia.

RBS WorldPay said the hackers also stole personal and financial data for 1.5 million customers, as well as Social Security numbers for 1.1 million customers. The company has reimbursed customers for money stolen during the operation.