Reportedly, Hong Kong Police have arrested three suspects who breached six Bitcoin ATMs in the country and stole $30,000 from there. After getting a tip on suspects, the Hong Kong authorities took those three of them into their custody on Thursday and Friday respectively in Mong Kok. According to the report from the South China Morning Post (SCMP), these three men are key members of a larger group of thieves. Reportedly, this crime is first of its kind that has occurred in the Hong Kong City.
The suspects withdrew money in11 transactions
According to the Hong Kong Police, the thieves, aged between 26 and 55, attacked six different Bitcoin (BTC) ATM machines and swindled an amount of HK$226,000 which equals $30,000 in the United States Dollars. They withdrew this large amount from ATMs in eleven separate transactions. Out of these transactions, the major transaction consisted of an amount of HK$54,000.
Two cryptocurrency exchanges reported to the Hong Kong Police about this breaching of ATMs. According to these exchanges, the suspects must have taken advantage of loopholes for getting such a large amount of money from Bitcoin ATMs without going through any authorization process.
Also read:Authorities did not reveal how they managed to steal money out of these Bitcoin ATMs. While giving the update on the crime scene, the Superintendent of the Cyber-security and technology Crime Bureau Wilson Tam Wai-shun said:
“I cannot reveal what the loopholes are. But any bitcoin transaction needs verification. Maybe the ring bypassed the verifying process before taking the money.”
Furthermore, the superintendent added, “We have offered security advice to the two companies and believe they will upgrade their systems. It is the first time we came across fraud linked to bitcoin ATMs.”
Moreover, the Hong Kong Police managed to take into custody some cash associated with this case as well as six smartphones. These three suspects are now being interrogated by the authorities and the investigation may lead the Hong Kong Police towards their criminal group.
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