BUCHAREST, Romania—Authorities in this country have detained 25 people suspected to be part of an international cybercrime ring that may be responsible for up to $45 million in card and ATM fraud.
The ring, suspected to be operating since 2012, has been the crosshairs of authorities for some time before the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism made its allegations. It is believed the crime ring has as many as 52 members.
Among the crimes for which the ring is suspected is hacks of banks in Puerto Rico and Oman in which payment data was stolen to create counterfeit cards that were then used to make fraudulent ATM withdrawals in the U.S., Japan, Belgium, Canada and more than a dozen other countries. Authorities alleged the thieves made the fraudulent ATM withdrawals in batches on non-business days.