Criminals stole over $1.65m from German bank OLB by cloning customer debit cards

Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB) has fallen victim to Brazilian criminals who cloned credits cards and then cashed out.

The thefts happened in the end of August and despite the fact that the cards were protected by EMV (chip-and-PIN) technology, ZDNet reported. The criminals stole more than $1.65m. The affected customers have been refunded, according to a statement from OLB.

Several cybersecurity experts noted that the incidents only involved 2,000 Mastercard debit cards issued by OLB. The bank has blocked all Mastercard debit cards since the incident came to light and is issuing replacements. OLB has denied rumours about it having experienced a security breach.

“We can confirm that neither Mastercard’s network or the EMV technology were compromised,” a Mastercard spokesperson told ZDnet. “Nor has any account or card data been hacked either at Mastercard, OLB or at a third party. This issue derived from a scam involving organized cybercrime using counterfeit cards and terminals.”

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