A warning from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to financial institutions about cybercriminals preparing an unlimited "ATM Cash-out" hack.
That's according to a leaked confidential FBI memo that was sent to banks worldwide.
Vantage West Credit Union Security and fraud manager, Brian Hillegonds says their bank has been notified about this worldwide scheme known as the "atm cash-out."
Thieves can hack an ATM and get away with an unlimited amount of cash by making duplicate debit cards.
"We know it happens to many large institutions that they (hackers) think that maybe the small institutions don't have the same protections in place but we have to follow strict guidelines as larger banks," says Hillegonds.
This information is based on the FBI memo to banks obtained by krebonsecurity.com - it seems the hackers already have the personal data. They're just waiting to use it.
Hillegonds says, "It's basically like an electronic criminal activity - they're trying to infiltrate payment processing system and what that is is something that handles all member data on their cards - what they do is get in, take the information from the cards, make dummy cards and hit the atm's at different locations."
There are two ways this cyber attack could go:
- Crooks could get your information through a phishing attack using emails or phone call
- Buy it off the black market, including your atm pin number.
The criminals are going as far as raising your daily ATM limit and possibly withdrawing everything you have in your account.
Hillegonds says, to stay safe you have to be cautious. "Check your account. Make sure you're always looking at your statements that's a big part of it. If you find something that isn't right - contact the institution immediately."
For those who may have a high daily atm withdrawal limit ... you may want to lower it.
