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FBI: Cloned debit cards used in worldwide scheme

Officials say hackers breached payment processor network to get data, and then made fake debit cards that others used to withdraw millions of dollars from ATMs in November.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
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Elinor Mills

The FBI is looking for suspects caught on video cameras who allegedly used cloned payroll debit cards to withdraw money from ATMs in a multi-city crime spree late last year, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The FBI in Chicago released surveillance photos of two suspects at ATMs allegedly participating in a worldwide scam using cards created by hackers who breached the computer of RBS WorldPay, a firm in Atlanta that processes financial transactions. Money from 100 accounts was withdrawn during a 10-hour period on November 8, the report said.

Fox 5 News reported earlier this week that as much as $9 million was withdrawn using the cloned cards from more than 130 different ATMs in nearly 50 cities.

RBS WorldPay announced in December that its computer network had been breached, exposing data of as many as 1.5 million cardholders and 1.1 million Social Security numbers.

Another payment processor, Heartland Payment Systems, reported on Inauguration Day last month that its network had been breached. That breach has led to a lawsuit.