Six arrested in New York after US$45m global ATM cyberscam

Six people have been arrested and charged with participating in a worldwide ATM heist that stole US$45 million from two Middle East banks.

The five men and one woman, all residents of the New York city suburb of Yonkers, were accused on Monday of being members of a global cybercrime organisation that stole Mastercard debit-card information, according to an announcement from Loretta Lynch, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Robert Nardoza, a spokesman for Lynch's office, declined to comment on where the cybercrime organisation was based, saying the investigation was ongoing.

The six were "cashers" in the scheme, withdrawing approximately US$2.8 million from more than 140 ATMs in New York city, according to the US attorney's office.

The hackers stole debit card data from the National Bank of Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and Bank Muscat in Oman in two attacks in December and February, according to prosecutors.

They broke into payment-processing companies used by the two banks and raised the balances and withdrawal limits on the cards, prosecutors said. Crews in more than 20 countries, such as the cell arrested on Monday, then withdrew US$5 million between December 21 and December 22 and US$40 million between February 19 and February 20.