Japanese cash machine scam nets fraudsters £8.9m

Cash worth £8.9m (1.4bn yen) has been stolen from cash machines across Japan in what is believed to have been a coordinated criminal operation.

The cash was taken in 14,000 transactions at 1,400 different convenience stores in Tokyo and 16 other prefectures across the country. In each case the maximum amount of £629 (100,000 yen) was withdrawn.

Police suspect that the money was stolen using counterfeit credit cards from a South African bank, the Kyodo new agency reported.

Japanese police, through Interpol, have asked South African authorities how the 1,600 cards were obtained.

The transactions are believed to have taken place within a three-hour window between 5am and 8am. The distance between the bank and the ATMs, and the fact that that the thefts took place on Sunday, May 15, meaning that the bank was closed, allowed for a delay before the scam was uncovered.

So far, no one is reported to have been arrested in connection with the investigation.