theft
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Two men charged with bank fraud following 'jackpotting' heist
A Connecticut court has charged two men with bank fraud after they allegedly stole thousands of dollars through ATM jackpotting. While a relatively new scheme in the US, jackpotting has been a problem in Asia, Europe and Mexico for years and involves loading up ATMs with malware and forcing them to release their cash contents. The two men are said to have dressed up as ATM technicians and accessed a Citizens Bank ATM in Cromwell, Connecticut in late January. Police found them near the ATM with tools and electronic devices believed to be required for jackpotting as well as $9,000 in $20 bills.
Coincheck hackers are reportedly trying to unload stolen cryptocurrency
Last week, hackers stole around $534 million worth of cryptocurrency XEM from Tokyo-based exchange Coincheck, and now, Reuters reports, the hackers behind the heist are trying to sell the stolen cryptocurrency. Jeff McDonald, vice president of the NEM Foundation, the company behind XEM, told Reuters that he had tracked down an account holding the coins and those in possession of the stolen XEM were trying to sell them on six different cryptocurrency exchanges. "He is trying to spend them on multiple exchanges. We are contacting those exchanges," said McDonald. He also told Reuters that he couldn't yet determine how much of the stolen coins had already been spent.
CabinR's travel bags keep thieves away with an annoying alarm
Not everyone is good at keeping track of their personal belongings, like a backpack or a messenger bag. So CabinR, a startup based out of Hong Kong, wants to help you feel safer on a journey. The company has created two bags, a backpack and a messenger model, that feature an alarm system powered by RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags to (hopefully) keep any potential thieves away from your stuff. It works quite simply: On the bag, there's an alarm device that you activate by pressing a button, and the only way to deactivate is by tapping an RFID plastic card on it.
Ex-NSA contractor will plead guilty to stealing 50TB of data
Harold Martin, the former US National Security Agency contractor accused of stealing classified information, has agreed to plead guilty to his charges. According to court filings posted on Wednesday, Martin will plead guilty to one count of wilful retention of national defense information and could face up to 10 years in prison on the single count.
Armed robbers steal $1.8 million worth of cryptocurrency
The Manhattan District Attorney has charged a man with robbery and kidnapping after he swiped a digital wallet containing a fortune in ethereum cryptocurrency. Louis Meza and an associate allegedly held up the victim at gunpoint after luring him into a vehicle, then stole his keys, wallet and cellphone. Meza used the keys to enter the victim's apartment and make off with his digital wallet. Shortly afterwards, he transferred $1.8 million in "ether" cryptocurrency to his own wallet.
Russian hackers steal $10 million from ATMs through bank networks
The recent rash of bank system hacks goes deeper than you might have thought -- it also includes stealing cash directly from ATMs. Researchers at Group-iB have published details of MoneyTaker, a group of Russian hackers that has stolen close to $10 million from American and Russian ATMs over the past 18 months. The attacks, which targeted 18 banks (15 of which were American), compromised interbank transfer systems to hijack payment orders -- "money mules" would then withdraw the funds at machines.
Thieves tell cops 'Mr. Tesla' said it was okay to swipe Teslas
Tesla's aren't easy to steal, but thieves in Utah allegedly made off with three $80,000 models by breaking into a dealership and stealing the fobs. After that, however, their master plan fell comically apart. "One guy claimed a family member had died and left them all this stuff, but two of them actually said (it was given to them) by (a man named) Tesla," South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller told Fox 13.
Thieves pilfer $370,000 worth of iPhone Xs in San Francisco
Thieves broken into a UPS truck parked outside a San Francisco Apple Store and made off with 300 iPhone Xs valued at around $370,000, CBS SF Bay Area reports. The suspects were "husky," and "wearing hooded sweatshirts," according to SFPD Captain Rick Yarid, adding "it appears [they] knew what they were looking for." The UPS driver reportedly parked the vehicle outside a mall and went to do a delivery at a Macy's when the thieves snatched the devices, according to a witness.
Arrested Bitcoin exchange leader might be linked to Mt. Gox theft
Greek authorities arrested a leading member of the BTC-e Bitcoin exchange on suspicion of money laundering, though the ultimate charges haven't been disclosed. That's because the person in question -- a Russian citizen named Alexander Vinnik -- was detained at the request of US authorities, which suspect he laundered as much as $4 billion through the platform.
'Find my iPhone' helps nab prolific Coachella smartphone thief
If you're thinking of stealing smartphones, the tech-centric Coachella festival is probably not the best place to do it. Savvy police teamed with equally savvy concert-goers to nab alleged smartphone thief Ronaldo De Jesus Henao with around 130 stolen smartphones. Police first discovered the rash of thefts at a specific tent by checking on Reddit, and were then aided by attendees that activated Apple's "Find my iPhone" feature.
Razer's new prototypes stolen from CES booth (update)
While CES 2017 has drawn to a close, news surrounding the products unveiled at the world's biggest consumer tech event continue to make the headlines. Take Razer, which had a very encouraging week after unveiling two new gaming prototypes (one of which won two Best of CES 2017 awards). However, things ended on a sour note after company CEO Min-Liang Tan confirmed that two of its concept products were stolen from its booth on the last day of the show.
Thieves can use web bots to guess your Visa card details
If you've punched in credit card details while shopping online, you've probably wondered how secure those digits are. According to Newcastle University, the answer is: not very. Its researchers have discovered that thieves are using web bots to guess Visa credit and debit card info thanks to a flaw in the company's payment system. The biggest challenge is obtaining valid 16-digit card numbers, usually by buying them or using an algorithm to generate valid examples. After that, the bots find expiration dates and CVVs (that three-digit number on the back) by spreading guesses across hundreds of shopping sites, plugging numbers into fields until they hit the jackpot. While that sounds like a painstaking process, the bots can figure things out in 6 seconds.
Foxconn exec faces 10 years for stealing 5,700 iPhones
A senior manager at Foxconn, the company that makes Apple's iPhone handsets, is facing 10 years incarceration after being charged with the theft of 5,700 iPhones valued at nearly $1.5 million. According to AsiaOne, the Taiwanese testing department manager, identified only by his family name Tsai, coerced eight of his subordinates to smuggle iPhone 5 and 5Ses out of the Foxconn Shenzhen plant between 2013 and 2014.
Credit card readers were hacked at MSG for nearly a year
Knicks fans have it rough. To watch last year's third-worst team, fans got to pay the league's highest ticket prices and drink the priciest beer. To add further insult, Madison Square Garden (MSG) Co. has revealed that their credit card information may have been stolen, too. Thieves tapped the magnetic card readers at merchandise and concession stands at Knicks and Rangers Games, Radio City Music Hall and other MSG locations between November 9th, 2015 and October 24th of this year, the company wrote in a special notice.
Who stole the DNA of 14,000 long-lived Italians?
Italian authorities are investigating a biotechnology heist that saw around 14,000 DNA samples allegedly stolen from a lab in Sardinia. This may not be a simple case of grand larceny, as the samples in question were taken from Italians with exceptionally long lives. Sardinia is one of a handful of "blue zones" with a higher-than-usual proportion of men over the age of 100. The material was gathered as part of a decades-long research investigation into a genetic secret for longevity that was unrelated to diet or environmental factors.
Thieves find a more insidious way to steal credit card details
The secret service has issued a warning to banks and ATM companies about a new way that thieves can steal your credit card information. A report from Krebs on Security explains that "periscope" skimmers have been found inside teller machines in Connecticut and Pennsylvania in the last two months. Of course, since the devices attach to the internal mechanism, there's absolutely no way for an end user to tell if they're at risk.
Hackers steal $63.7 million from Bitcoin exchange
A Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange has suspended all transactions after hackers stole a significant sum of the cryptocurrency. Bloomberg is reporting that 119,756 BTC, currently valued at $63.7 million, has been taken from Bitfinex. The news has helped to contribute to a drop in Bitcoin's value, and over the last two days it has fallen by around 13 percent.
Robbers used 'Pokémon Go' to lure their victims
Pokémon Go is introducing many people to location-based gaming... and unfortunately, that includes the potential pitfalls as well. Police in O'Fallon, Missouri report that robbers used the mobile augmented reality title to reel in victims. Based on the description, it's most likely that the crooks placed a lure at a Pokéstop (a location where you collect items) and waited for players to show up, becoming unwitting targets in the process. While the police caught the robbers, their advice holds true -- be careful before you give strangers a clue as to where you're going.
Acer admits hackers stole up to 34,000 customer credit cards
If you bought an Acer device from the company's store in the last year, there's a chance that your credit card info was hijacked. The Taiwan-based company informed California's attorney general that attackers made off with the "name, address, card number, expiration date and three-digit security codes" of users between May 12, 2015 and April 28, 2016. It sent form letters to the 34,500 affected customers, all of whom are in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Cryptocurrency raider takes $60 million in digital cash
A cryptocurrency is only as reliable as the technology that keeps it running, and Ethereum is learning this the hard way. An attacker has taken an estimated $60 million in Ethereum's digital money (Ether) by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Decentralized Autonomous Organization, an investment collective. The raider took advantage of a "recursive call" flaw in the DAO's code-based smart contracts, which administer the funds, to scoop up Ether many times in a single pass.
