News

ATMs get blown up down under

August 17, 2012

ATMs in and around Perth in Western Australia have been targeted in a series of bombings over the past few weeks.

Western Australia Today reported that an ATM in the suburban town of Gwelup was the seventh one to be hit with a bomb in the past five weeks. At least a half dozen ATMs in the metropolitan Perth area have been hit as well. No injuries have been mentioned in reports of the ATM bombings, but damage to banks and buildings in the vicinity of the explosions has been extensive.

To combat the wave of ATM bomb attacks, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the Australian Bankers' Association is offering a reward of AUS$50,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of those responsible.

"We hope that an offer of a reward might give the public extra incentive to come forward with valuable information which could assist the police," ABA Chief Executive Steven Muenchenberg told the Herald.

Muenchenberg told the Herald the bombings have prompted a continuing risk assessment program by Australia's banking sector of its ATM fleets, and encouraged enhanced ATM security, including gas detection and suppression systems, cash degradation systems, dye packs in ATMs and increased physical security.

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