--- title: Canadian Teens Hack Into Bank of Montreal ATM, Don't Steal Money description: They don't steal any money. Instead, they kindly inform the bank that it should tighten up its security canonical: https://time.com/2857440/teens-hack-into-atm-just-to-let-everyone-know-they-can/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-11T15:20:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:10:39.144Z og:title: Teens Hack Into ATM Just to Let Everyone Know They Can og:description: They politely informed staff of the bank's vulnerability og:url: https://time.com/2857440/teens-hack-into-atm-just-to-let-everyone-know-they-can/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fe39c5ebcc13e71/6986971455a8596129a814ff/ca13476.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: CA13476 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Teens Hack Into ATM Just to Let Everyone Know They Can twitter:description: They politely informed staff of the bank's vulnerability twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fe39c5ebcc13e71/6986971455a8596129a814ff/ca13476.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Teens Hack Into ATM Just to Let Everyone Know They Can > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=046ee3b3-d711-488a-b5a3-62758da7bd48&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 11, 2014 3:20 PM UTC  Person making ATM transaction, close-up Person making ATM transaction, close-up Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Jun 11, 2014 3:20 PM UTC A pair of Canadian high schoolers decided to spend their lunch hour finding out if they could successfully hack into a nearby Bank of Montreal ATM. Turns out they totally could. “We thought it would be fun to try it, but we were not expecting it to work,” one of the hackers, Matthew Hewlett, [told](http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/06/08/code-crackers--charleswood-teens-hack-into-grant-avenue-atm) the Winnipeg _Sun_. “When it did, it asked for a password.” But the boys were so polite that once they gained control of the machine, they didn’t steal any money — instead, they went inside to inform the bank about the little security problem. Staff members didn’t believe them, so they went back to the machine to get proof. They printed off documentation about withdrawals, and even changed the surcharge amount to one cent. The boys did manage to have a bit of fun, though. They changed the ATM’s home screen greeting from “Welcome to the BMO ATM” to “Go away. This ATM has been hacked.” Eventually, the branch manager came out to chat with the teens and essentially treat them as one-time security consultants. Then he sent them back to school with a note excusing their tardiness because oh yeah they’re in high school and yet they’re so much smarter and more helpful than most adults we know. ([h/t Betabeat](http://betabeat.com/2014/06/polite-canadian-14-year-olds-hack-atm-steal-no-money/)) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2857440/teens-hack-into-atm-just-to-let-everyone-know-they-can/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2857440/teens-hack-into-atm-just-to-let-everyone-know-they-can/"},"headline":"Teens Hack Into ATM Just to Let Everyone Know They Can","datePublished":"2014-06-11T15:20:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:10:39.144Z","description":"They don't steal any money. 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