What's the difference between a plugged-in computer cable and one that's not? The answer is worth millions of dollars.
Police in
Uppland County, Sweden, not far from Stockholm, say that was the only thing that prevented clever computer thieves from making off with a fortune from a local bank. The gang is accused of placing some unidentified equipment on the PC of a bank worker last year.
The employee came to his computer, turned it on and prepared to go to work. But whatever the thieves left behind, it was capable of allowing them to operate the machine remotely, and they immediately planned a major digital bank robbery, a scheme so devious, no one at the institution would even know it had taken place until it was too late.
They instructed the computer to transfer millions of dollars from the bank into an account, which they apparently hoped to access and clean out soon after. But they didn't count on the worker noticing something odd was going on. When the employee looked up at his screen, he saw the strange activity on his monitor and quickly realized something was up.
Cops say right before the transaction was completed, he pulled the cable from the computer, unplugging the remote connection and foiling the elaborate plot. His actions left the would-be robbers with nothing but frustration for their time and trouble. "By pulling out the cable to the device, the employee managed to stop the intended transfer at the last second," reveals prosecutor Thomas Balter Nordenman.
The hidden heist was actually attempted in August, but authorities didn't release details about it until Wednesday. That's when they were finally able to track the gang and the evidence they needed, arresting seven suspects - many of whom already had previous fraud and theft convictions.
Cops still won't say how they got access to the worker's PC, but stress their detentions came just in time. They allege the gang was in the middle of preparing for yet another surreptitious stick-up.