Newham cash machine scammer jailed after £1.6m theft
Teofil Bortos, of Newham, who has been sentenced to 10 years in prison - Credit: Archant
A member of an Eastern European crime gang has been jailed for stealing more than £1 million with an ATM scam.
Teofil Bortos, 36, of Cheltenham Gardens, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at the Old Bailey today for his role in the malware attack, which claimed £1.6m from cash machines across the country.
The gang of which he was a member targeted 51 cash machines in standalone public places across the country over the 2014 May bank holiday weekend, including in London, Bognor Regis, Brighton, Liverpool and Portsmouth.
His main role was to drive to various spots to conduct reconnaissance of ATMs and identify possible targets.
Each machine was later physically broken into and infected with the virus before large amounts of money was withdrawn.
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The malware then deleted itself, making it difficult to identify the cause of the theft, but the physical nature of the attacks meant customer data was not compromised.
Det Insp Matt Mountford, head of the London Regional Fraud Team, said:
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“Teofil Bortos was a key part of an Eastern European gang that executed a well planned, highly sophisticated attack on cash machines located across the UK.
“His sentencing shows that people who commit crimes of this nature can expect exactly the same treatment as those involved in more traditional types of theft.
“The result from court also highlights the excellent work of the London Regional Fraud Team and shows how we are effectively engaging with a range of agencies to crack down on fraud and cyber crime.”
