Be sure and check your bank balance daily upon return!!

[jamaicajeanne]

Reading MSN this morning and saw this.....

The mastermind of a $55 million computer hacking scheme that pillaged ATM machines all over the world pleaded guilty Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Turkish national Ercan Findikoglu is merely a high school graduate, but he was able to attack and breach the computer networks of at least three payment processors for Visa and MasterCard credit and prepaid debit cards.

"I intended to defraud the financial institutions by manipulating the account balances," Findikoglu told Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto.

The cybercriminal was able to falsely inflate the balances on the accounts, then he forwarded the account information to "cash crews" standing by in 26 cities from July 2010 to February 2013. Findikoglu carried out the intrusion from his homeland, he told the judge.

When the crew members received the green light, they began making large withdrawals from ATM accounts in which the limits on balances had been lifted, according to court papers.

Thirteen co-conspirators had previously pleaded guilty.

Findikoglu faces up to 14 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 12. He is also on the hook to repay $55 million in restitution to the financial institutions that were ripped off, a $250,000 fine, and will be deported to Turkey after finishing his jail term.

Law enforcement officials said $2.8 million was stolen from cash machines in New York City, making it the biggest single cash theft since the Lufthansa heist carried out by a Mafia crew at Kennedy Airport in 1978.

[Rob]

Reading MSN this morning and saw this.....

The mastermind of a $55 million computer hacking scheme that pillaged ATM machines all over the world pleaded guilty Tuesday in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Turkish national Ercan Findikoglu is merely a high school graduate, but he was able to attack and breach the computer networks of at least three payment processors for Visa and MasterCard credit and prepaid debit cards.

"I intended to defraud the financial institutions by manipulating the account balances," Findikoglu told Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto.

The cybercriminal was able to falsely inflate the balances on the accounts, then he forwarded the account information to "cash crews" standing by in 26 cities from July 2010 to February 2013. Findikoglu carried out the intrusion from his homeland, he told the judge.

When the crew members received the green light, they began making large withdrawals from ATM accounts in which the limits on balances had been lifted, according to court papers.

Thirteen co-conspirators had previously pleaded guilty.

Findikoglu faces up to 14 years in prison when he is sentenced on July 12. He is also on the hook to repay $55 million in restitution to the financial institutions that were ripped off, a $250,000 fine, and will be deported to Turkey after finishing his jail term.

Law enforcement officials said $2.8 million was stolen from cash machines in New York City, making it the biggest single cash theft since the Lufthansa heist carried out by a Mafia crew at Kennedy Airport in 1978.

This is why I stated that the only constant in this latest scam is the processing center in Brazil. Determining the origin of a hack is a very time consuming and difficult thing to do. Especially if the hacker is a talented programmer, as the teenager in the above story was better than the banking transaction processing centers security programmers. This latest scam has all the hallmarks of a new, multi-faceted hack which can be changed when needed. This makes it even harder to detect and eliminate. I am sure that the banks are working together as they did above to catch this latest scam.

[Lola]

In Canada we have been using the chips in our cards for a couple of years now and I do not recall anyone from here losing money but hard to say because not everyone is showing their country in their profile.

We used my chipped debit card from our little local credit union twice at Scotia Bank ATM at the roundabout and twice at the Times Square ATM, and also a couple of times at an ATM IN MoBay. Happy to report we've been home 2 weeks and no suspicious activity with our checking account. Yay!

BaileysMom, the ATM's you used, were they reading the chip (which provides a different transaction code each time) or were they only capable of reading the magnetic strip?

[Misti1]

Oddly enough, 2 of the withdrawals were listed as Nova Scotia Bank. Who knows, sadly it is just the digital world we live in now. One was listed in Lucea. This was our first time NOT having Travelers Checks. I know that many folks think TC's are a hassle but we old F---ers...really liked having them. This year, there were NO banks in our city that carried them anymore. We never had any trouble cashing them. I wish they were still available for us locally. As my dad always said, "nothing as inevitable as change"....but it doesn't mean we have to like it. LOL

Our local bank also has a set amount of withdrawal. I guess that is why 2 were on yesterday, with a larger withdrawal this morning.

First I am very very sorry about what happened. TC are one thing, but i you are here long term and trying to access your monthly deposited funds long term that is not the answer and the ATM card thing has hit me right where I live.

[Misti1]

I wish us Yanks could open Scotia Bank accounts. It would make the whole money thing easier. Sadly you must be a Canadian citizen.

I have Scotia Jamaican and US funds accounts and I am from America .

[Velvets]

both my son and I had our accounts hacked from ATM usage in Negril last Jan. Fortunately our Canadian banks covered the theft but for our next trip, this Nov. we're really not looking forward to holding a pile of cash. Going to look into a Canadian ScotiaBank account & see if its worth the effort. Still, this means a line-up inside the bank instead would prefer if Jamaican ATM owners & police figured it out.

[booger]

both my son and I had our accounts hacked from ATM usage in Negril last Jan. Fortunately our Canadian banks covered the theft but for our next trip, this Nov. we're really not looking forward to holding a pile of cash. Going to look into a Canadian ScotiaBank account & see if its worth the effort. Still, this means a line-up inside the bank instead would prefer if Jamaican ATM owners & police figured it out.

Open a bank account at home and use it as your travel account, and use your primary as a back up. No need to bring loads of cash, however I would bring a little bit and keep it in the room safe as your second back up. Also, I keep my ATM cards in those RFID blocking sleeves and so far have never had a debit card compromised, with travel all over the globe.

knock on wood

[Babalew]

I've reasoned that it is better to use an checking account not connected to other monies ie savings, credit card etc and empty it when you withdraw. I have to use debit cards and avoid withdrawal fees from scotia bank by their partnership with bank of america.

[meinvancouver]

Velvets you are Canadian so very easy to do, just go online to Tangerine Bank and open an account there. The online accounts are free with no fees. You will need to link it to your regular bank account so you can transfer money to your new Tangerine account. When in Negril you can use the Scotia Bank which owns the Tangerine bank and withdraw your money from your Tangerine account for free, just put enough money in it for you to withdraw during your time there. Since there is a limit of money in your Tangerine account you really can't lose a lot of funds.

I have it set up that every month a few hundred dollars go to my tangerine account and becomes my spending money in Negril. Only a few transaction and very easy to monitor for fraud.

[meinvancouver]

I should also add when I was there in May I had depleted the Tangerine account and needed more money So logged in online from my phone and transferred money and withdrew it the next day. No Problem Mon!