Police are on the hunt for a pair of thieves who escaped with a cryptocurrency ATM after a ram raid at a shopping centre in Melbourne's northern suburbs this morning.
Police allege a stolen Toyota Ute rammed the front doors of Merrifield City shopping centre in Mickleham just after 4am, before reversing into two ATM machines inside.
CCTV vision exclusively obtained by 9News shows one of the men, dressed in bright orange, using a sledge hammer to knock a Coinflip Bitcoin ATM to the ground.
The pair then ditched the Toyota when the machine proved too heavy to lift onto the back tray and instead dragged it out by hand, fleeing the scene in a dark-coloured sedan with the Coinflip ATM.
Police will allege the thieves then dumped the ATM in a Coolaroo car park, before setting it alight.
The Coinflip ATM, which allow users to buy and sell crypto using cash, had been pried open.
Crypto expert Steve Sammartino said crypto machines do not have the same security measures as conventional ATMS, which could have aided the thieves.
"The crypto machines aren't as robust as typical ATMs which are issued via banks," Sammartino said.
"Not all of them have dye bombs so that the money is unusable after they're broken into."
The offenders remain on the run and the sedan has not been located at this stage.
Anyone who witnessed the ram-raid or the fire, has dashcam/CCTV footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
