Over 3,000 ATMs in Thailand have been shut down due to fears of being hacked.

The Government Savings Bank of Thailand has had to shut down half of its ATMs nationwide for inspection after nearly $350,000 was stolen from 21 machines since the end of July.

ATM hacks were reported in Phuket, Surat Thani, Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phangnga, Phetchaburi, and Bangkok, totaling 12 million baht (US$346,000). This forced the bank to close more than 3,000 ATMs – half of its nationwide supply – for investigation.

Initially, Thai police believed only foreigners were responsible for the attacks. However, yesterday (August 28), Pol Gen Panya Mamen, an advisor to the Royal Thai Police, stated that Thai nationals may have been involved after inspecting an ATM at a gas station in Vibhavadi Soi 44 (Bangkok) and another in Surat Thani.

Police stand guard around the first ATM stolen in Bangkok. Photo: Bangkok Post.

The ATM at Vibhavadi Soi 44 was the first to be hacked in Bangkok. The criminal group stole a total of 560,000 baht across three attacks on July 29 and 30.

He said they inserted a type of electronic card made in Ukraine into the ATM, presumably to introduce malware. Then, instead of entering a password, they simply pressed the "Cancel" button, and the ATM automatically dispensed the money. Although the withdrawal limit for each ATM is only 20,000 baht per transaction, the group managed to get the ATM to dispense up to 40,000 baht.

After the first attack, they went to another ATM on Sukhumvit Soi 23 and repeated the same tactic. Police have photos of the suspects. They withdrew money from this ATM several times. Investigators are preparing evidence to quickly issue arrest warrants for the suspects.

In Surat Thani, Pol Gen Panya and local investigators examined an ATM in Phunphin district. The ATM was attacked on August 1st and 2.6 million baht was stolen.

Yesterday, the Bank of Thailand announced that there were no signs of similar attacks at other banks. Earlier, police said it was highly likely that the suspects were linked to the ATM attacks at a major Taiwanese bank in July.

According to VNE