Global Cybercriminal Who Hacked ATMs For $14M Jailed

After pleading guilty to bank fraud almost a year ago, an international cybercriminal has officially been sentenced to more than four years in prison for his role in hacking ATMs in an amount above $14 million.

Early last week (June 29), a Federal judge sentenced Qendrim Dobruna to 50 month in prison, and was also summoned to pay restitution for the $14 million that was stolen from hacking into U.S.-based financial institutions’ computer systems. He was charged with stealing prepaid debit card data and breaching the withdraw limits from ATMs in order to conduct a worldwide fraud ATM heist to draw that money out in one weekend.

“The defendants and his co-conspirators participated in a massive 21st century heist that stretched around the globe. Using sophisticated methods, the organization reached into the computer systems of American-based corporations and transmitted illegally obtained private financial information to confederates in 18 different countries who stole millions of dollars from hundreds of ATMs in a matter of hours,” Acting United States Attorney Kelly Currie said in a prepared statement. “[The] sentence serves as a warning to cybercriminals around the world that law enforcement is committed to solving these cybercrimes, no matter how sophisticated, and bringing the perpetrators to justice, wherever they may be found.”

According to details released from the case, Dobruna obtained the financial information from his own apartment, while the conspirators hacked into the databases. That information was later sold online to more co-conspirators. The heist managed to hack into more than 15,000 ATM transactions across 18 countries around the world, and were able to do so using 21 compromised prepaid cards. Those cards were American Red Cross disaster relief prepaid cards, which resulted in the loss of $14 million to the credit card processor, as well as the American Red Cross.

These incidents started somewhere between Feb. 27, 2011 and March 1 of that year when the cybercrime organization began hacking the credit card processor’s database. Eventually, the organized hackers distributed stolen prepaid debit card numbers around the word, which was used to withdraw cash. The hackers also manipulated account balances and withdraw limits to achieve the total amount stolen.

“This operation demonstrates that combining international law enforcement resources sends a strong message to criminals, that there is no such thing as anonymity in the cyber world. Secret Service agents utilize state-of-the-art investigative techniques to identify and pursue cybercriminals around the world. The adverse impact this individual and other transnational organized criminal groups have on our nation’s financial infrastructure is significant and should not be underestimated,” said Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Robert J. Sica.



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