ATM Machines to be revamped in Thailand

A Malaysian was arrested earlier this week for allegedly running a crime ring that stole more than 3 million baht (US$83,000) by attaching skimming devices to ATM machines in the province of Chumphon, 240 miles (380 kilometers) south of the capital, Bangkok.

The man confessed to police that his gang had altered ATMs by attaching fake keypads, tiny cameras and card readers placed over the machine’s card slot to record a bank card’s magnetic strip and PIN number.

According to the police reports, there have been ATM scams with thefts of about 50 million baht ($1.4 million) in the past five months from provinces outside the capital, including popular beach destinations like Krabi and Trang in southern Thailand. With increasing number of thefts in bank account information by criminal gangs, more than 30,000 automated teller machines in Thailand will be revamped as a preventive measure.

Phol Thanachote, chairman of the Automated Teller Machines’ Business Community, which operates ATM for banks in Thailand, said that special stickers will be affixed to the revamped machines to show they are safe for use. However, there was no clarification on how the machines were being altered to make them less theft-prone. Phol also said that the community was struggling to keep pace with the new technology used by criminals to copy bank account information from ATM cards.