Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/14
By: Chu Che-wei and Elaine Hou

Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Taipei police said Thursday they were looking at the possibility that an international organized crime ring was involved in the recent hacking of First Bank’s automatic teller machines in Taiwan.

The police said they were tracking down the six suspects, most of whom were from Eastern Europe. Currently, there are no Taiwanese on the list of suspects who hacked into 38 First Bank ATMs over the weekend, getting the machines to spit out a steady stream of bills that amounted to more than NT$83 million (US$2.6 million), the police said.

The mode of operation was similar to another heist several years ago that was carried in Europe out by an international organized crime ring, the police said, adding that there is a possibility of a link between the two cases.

In Taiwan, the ATMs were robbed by groups of no more than three people who traveled mostly by taxi, although they had a rental car, the police said.     [FULL  STORY]