News

Japanese ATM heist: 100 money mules; 120 minutes; $12.7 million

May 23, 2016

Eight days ago, approximately 100 thieves bearing a combined total of 1,600 counterfeit bankcards emptied some 1,400 ATMs across Japan in a coordinated and highly sophisticated criminal operation.

Japanese news agency Kyodo published details of the crime today, saying that the money mules conducted 14,000 transactions at 7-Eleven store ATMs within a two-hour period on May 15.

Withdrawing the maximum amount of 100,000 yen in each transaction, the thieves amassed nearly $13 million within a period of approximately two hours, according to Japanese authorities.

The card data is believed to have originated in South Africa, the report said. The thieves targeted 7-Eleven cash machines because, unlike Japanese banks, they accept bankcards from other nations.

To date, no one has been arrested in the case.