ABU DHABI, 29th March, 2017 (WAM) -- Abu Dhabi Police have managed, in less than 24 hours, to arrest four Asian hackers who had stolen more than AED1 million ($272,309) from unsuspecting consumers' financial accounts by installing skimmer devices on ATMs across the country .

Anti-cyber crime experts from Abu Dhabi Criminal Investigation Department (CID) unraveled the mystery behind the crime in which the global hackers utilised sophisticated malware to steal data from consumers' credit cards, transferring the victims' accounts to magnetic stripe cards, such as hotel master keys and shopping loyalty cards that they later converted to credit cards to steal the funds.

Colonel Dr. Rashid Mohammed Borshid, Head of CID, has said that after receiving information reports and calls on the crimes, anti-cyber crime teams well-versed with these genres of crimes and specialising in malware, have made their immediate investigations and managed in less than 24 hours to arrest one of the hackers' accomplices who had assisted the cyber gang in using the cards in a hotel and shopping mall chain. CID teams have managed to confiscate all the malware and equipment, including laptops, scanners and photocopiers, used by the gang, and referred the hackers to judicial authorities concerned.

Colonel Rashid stressed the need to be wary of advertising sites that mislead shoppers, noting that the Abu Dhabi Police Security Media has broadcast a set of instructions on social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter for computer users in order to help them against cyber crimes. He urged them to be cautious and refrain from sharing personal data or photos on suspicious sites.



Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2017.