Lazarus Heist: The intercontinental ATM theft that netted $14m in two hours
Source: BBC
Lazarus Heist: The intercontinental ATM theft that netted $14m in two hours
1 April 2023
By Jean Lee, Geoff White and Viv Jones
BBC World Service
Imagine you're a low-wage worker in India who is offered a day's employment as an extra in a Bollywood film. Your role? To go to a cash point and withdraw some money.
In 2018, several men in Maharashtra state thought they were accepting a bit-part in a movie - but in fact they were being tricked into being money mules, collecting cash in an ambitious bank heist.
The raid took place over a weekend in August 2018, and centred on Cosmos Co-operative bank, which has its headquarters in Pune.
On a quiet Saturday afternoon, staff in the bank's head office suddenly received a string of alarming messages.
They were from the card payment company Visa in the United States, warning it could see thousands of demands flooding in for large cash withdrawals from ATMs - by people apparently using Cosmos Bank cards.
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65130220
Link contains spoilers for the Lazarus Heist podcast.