Bank ATM Hacked by 14-Year-Olds

Think stealing money from banks is hard? Think again. A couple of 14-year-olds in Canada have hacked into a Bank of Montreal ATM machine and gained access to all of the customer accounts. Matthew Hewlett and Caleb Turon, both 9th grade students, found an old ATM operators manual online that showed how to get into the machine's operator mode. On Wednesday, during their school lunch hour, they went to the closest ATM and got access in a couple of minutes. 

They went to the bank and told them about it and nobody believed them. OK, Hewlett says, "I asked them: 'Is it all right for us to get proof?' The bank rep said 'Yeah, sure, but you'll never be able to get anything out of it.' So, Hewlett continues, "So we both went back to the ATM and I got into the operator mode again. Then I started printing off documentation like how much money is currently in the machine, how many withdrawals have happened that day, how much it's made off surcharges. Then I found a way to change the surcharge amount, so I changed the surcharge amount to one cent." As further proof, Hewlett playfully changed the ATM's greeting from "Welcome to the BMO ATM" to "Go away. This ATM has been hacked." 

They then returned to the bank with six printed documents. This time, the bank staff took them seriously. "They brought the branch manager out to talk to us," he said. "He was quite concerned and said he would have to contact head security." Hewlett and Turon had a concern of their own -- they were late getting back to school. So Turon asked for a note on BMO letterhead explaining their tardiness. His request was granted by the bank's financial services coordinator. "Please excuse Mr. Caleb Turon and Matthew Hewlett for being late during their lunch hour due to assisting BMO with security," the note began. Not surprisingly, the note raised eyebrows when it was presented back at the school.