The gang drained the cash from two Middle Eastern banks by hacking into credit card processing firms and withdrawing money from ATMs in 27 countries.
In one of the two attacks, £26m
($40m) was raided from cashpoints across 24 countries in just over 10 hours -
through a total of 36,000 transactions.
US Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York Loretta Lynch described the theft as "a massive
21st-century bank heist".
She told a news conference:
"In the place of guns and masks, this cybercrime organisation used laptops
and the internet.
"Moving as swiftly as data
over the internet, the organisation worked its way from the computer systems of
international corporations to the streets of New York City."
According to the US
Justice Department, the gang broke into the computers of two credit card
processors, one in India in December 2012 and the other in the United States
this February. The companies were not identified.
The hackers increased the
available balance and withdrawal limits on prepaid MasterCard debit cards
issued by Bank of Muscat of Oman, and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah PSC
(RAKBANK) of the United Arab Emirates.
They then distributed counterfeit
debit cards to "cashers" around the world, enabling them to siphon
millions of dollars from ATMs in a matter of hours.
In New York, for example, members
of the cell fanned out into the city on the afternoon of February 19, armed
with cards bearing a single Bank of Muscat account number.
Ten hours later, they had
completed 2,904 withdrawals for £1.5m ($2.4m) in total, the final transaction
coming at around 1.26am.
Casher crews in other countries
were busy doing the same, extracting some £26m from Bank of Muscat to add to
the £3m ($5m) they stole from RAKBANK in December.
Prosecutors - who also
highlighted the sophistication and "surgical precision" of the
hackers - accused eight men of allegedly forming the New York-based cell of the
organisation and said seven of them had been arrested.
They included Elvis Rafael
Rodriguez, 24, who was pictured in photographic evidence seized on his iPhone,
along with Emir Yasser Yeje, 24.
The pair are seen with a large
pile of money, allegedly just after withdrawing it.
Other images show more wads of
cash and luxury goods.
An eighth man, allegedly a leader
of the cell, was reported to have been murdered in the Dominican Republic on
April 27.
Officials in Washington say the
ringleaders are believed to be outside the US, but refused to give more details
due to the ongoing investigation.
Classic! The fraudsters are professionl.
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