A Bank of America computer specialist has admitted hacking into the company's ATM machines.

Rodney Reed Caverly, of Charlotte, North Carolina who was a company techie apparently worked out a wizard wheeze that involved getting the bank's ATMs to dispense cash without making a record of the transaction.

He was charged with one count of computer fraud for allegedly writing a malware program that ran on Bank of America's computers and ATMs. Court documents do not give the bank's total losses, but do indicate that Caverly took more than the statutory minimum of $5,000.

It is not the first time that techies with inside knowledge of banking practices have worked out ways to fleese the system. About ten years ago there was an ATM model which shipped with a flaw that voided a transaction if you failed to take a receipt. That was exploited by several bank techies who found out about it. However this appears to be the first time that an insider has placed code inside an ATM. (They'll probably make him CEO once he gets out. sub.ed.)