Russian ATM suspect sought

Police widen probe of B12m hacking heist

Police yesterday sought an arrest warrant for a Russian man who is suspected of being involved in several ATM thefts earlier this month.

More than 12 million baht was stolen from 21 ATMs of the state-run Government Savings Bank (GSB).

Panya Mamen, who heads an investigation team handling the case, said a warrant was sought from the Phuket Provincial court for Rustam Shambasov, who is believed to be connected to the heists, which occurred in six provinces from Aug 1 to 8.

The latest probe also found the suspects managed to gain more than 4.5 million baht in cash from the GSB’s ATMs in Phangnga, a province next to Phuket, during the same period.

The investigation has found at least five suspects including Mr Shambasov were behind the theft. More arrest warrants will be sought for the rest of the suspects, Pol Gen Panya said.

However, their names and nationalities were being withheld for now as revealing them could affect the ongoing investigation, he said.

Pol Gen Panya was speaking during a meeting to follow up the case at the Phuket Provincial Police yesterday.

Other agencies including the Metropolitan Police Bureau, the Crime Suppression Division, the Technology Crime Suppression Division, the Immigration Bureau as well as Provincial Police regions 7 and 8 were also involved in the probe.

Pol Gen Panya said the probe found the suspects’ three vehicles used in the theft were a Honda Civic, a Toyata Fortuner and a Toyota Vios, all white.

The gang used Phuket as their base to commit the crime.

Some suspects were also believed to have fled the country shortly after the heists, he said. No GSB officials were also found to be involved in the theft.

Pol Gen Panya, however, said police will try their best to track down the perpetrators and retrieve the GSB’s money.

The gang targeted cash in the machines, rather than money in customer accounts, meaning the bank had to bear the brunt of its losses.

Earlier, the GSB shut down more than 3,000 ATMs, half of the total number of its ATMs nationwide, after discovering some were infected with malware that caused them to dispense the large amounts of cash. The six provinces were Phuket, Surat Thani, Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi and Bangkok.

An initial investigation found hackers used malware programs to tamper with the ATMs, isolating them from GSB’s operating network.

They then wrote new programs that allowed them to withdraw the money.

Police suspect the theft from the GSB’s ATMs is the work of Eastern European criminals and may be linked to multiple attacks on ATMs of a major domestic bank in Taiwan in July.

Pol Gen Panya said the GSB’s ATMs, which were closed earlier, will resume operation soon, after the ban has completed installing a new program.

He also asked the public to be vigilant and report to authorities if they find any foreigners taking too long at ATMs.