Patsy Moy reports:
Two Hong Kong men using fake bank cards produced by US-based hackers withdrew HK$4.2 million [USD $541,024.47 — Dissent] from various ATM machines in less than eight hours, the District Court heard yesterday.
Cheung Hoi-wing, 40, a transport worker and former police officer, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy after admitting he had stolen HK$1.26 million during the November 8, 2008 heist.
[…]
The scam involved hacking attacks on the payment processing arm of Royal Bank of Scotland branches worldwide on November 10, 2008.
Fung described the syndicate as “sizeable” and equipped with sophisticated technology. She said the syndicate had hacked the banks’ computer systems and substantially increased the limits on cash withdrawals and the number of bank transactions allowed.
In Hong Kong, Cheung and his four alleged cohorts had withdrawn more than HK$4.2 million in 226 transactions from ATM machines of major banks including HSBC, Hang Seng Bank, DBS, Wing Lung Bank, Bank of East Asia, Dah Sing Bank and Shanghai Commercial Bank.
Read more in The Standard.