The Nepali banking sector has always been vulnerable. It’s not because of weak management or any further reasons, and it’s due to the share of similar technology. The majority of the ATMs are either imported or borrowed from China. That’s why hackers can easily access the data and steal the money.
A similar incident happened on April 2 in Kathmandu when a suspicious Chinese man entered the Mega Bank’s ATM booth. He didn’t use the card to withdraw cash; however, he began to open the machine – with the help of a key.
Thankfully, the security guard was watching all these incidents happening. He informed the police saying, “A foreign man is stealing money from the ATM.” After that, the two DSP’s Rameswhor Paudel and Rajkumar KC reached the spot and arrested the Chinese hacker Wang Xiaolo. He was clicking some pictures of the machine when the Police grabbed him.
Furthermore, the Police’s official statement says, “His intention was not to withdraw money but to send the pictures in China. Also, about the fake key, we are investigating how he was able to make this.” Wang Xiaolo was only successful in clicking pictures, and he had no time to send them to his counterparts in China.
When the Police uncovered the further details, the Chinese hackers were two when arriving in Nepal. However, in the airport, one of them gave a key and 65 dollar to Wang, and directed to send pictures after opening the machine.
It’s unclear that these hackers are professional or not. But looking at the techniques, it is surely the work of a pro. The Police are puzzled and are currently investigating details about Wang – and searching for his friend who advised him to do these things.
The hackers planned to steal a huge amount of money. The plan was not executed after a few days; they have made up this by collecting numerous details for many months. Moreover, after getting a picture, it would have taken months to conduct a heist. This shows how hackers investigate and conduct a heist by identifying flaws.
Hackers Are Professionally Trained
Wang Xiaolo carried 10 debit cards with him, and his first plan was to investigate different banks’ machines and accomplish the plan after few months. The Police have also found a drill machine with him. It is suspicious that he carried a drill machine while coming to Nepal – on a visit visa.
Besides, these hackers’ idea was to hack the overall network of banking. According to the Police, Wang and his company has been planning something big. But it is not evident where do these men operate from in China. Yet, the Police are planning to take the help of Interpol.
This Isn’t The First Time
The incident didn’t happen for the first time in Nepal. Hackers – especially from China – have been spotted many times after 2015. The biggest steal happened in 2019 when five men were arrested stealing Millions from the Nepali ATM booths.
The hackers hacked 68 ATM booths in a single day on August 29. A report was submitted to the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) from a committee headed by the Director of Payment Systems Department of Nepal Rastra Bank, Bam Bahadur Mishra, which concluded that the hackers stole 18.9 million of 17 commercial banks of Nepal by hacking 68 ATM booths.
The report further states, “The hackers used duplicate ATM cards of seven banks to [steal] the money through a cuber system-attack between Nepal Electronic Payment System (NEPS) and Visa from 11 am to 4 pm on Saturday [August 29].”
Likewise, the hackers also stole a huge amount of money from Nepali banks’ ATMs in India. Approximately, 10.5 million rupees were withdrawn with the help of fake debit cards.
Describing more, these incidents are not new for the Police. In March 2017, two Bulgarians were arrested, committing a similar type of crime in Pokhara. In addition, a Russian was arrested from Thamel on the same day from an ATM booth.
According to the Police, “Hackers are always searching for countries with weak security systems all over the world.” This is why the central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank, should tighten up the electronic payment gateway system to prevent these types of happenings in the future.
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