FBI: 'Jackpotting' Crew Snatched $500K From ATMs

Drivers pulling off I-95 in Connecticut for coffee and gas likely had no idea that some rest-stop ATMs were allegedly being emptied like slot machines. Federal prosecutors say four men used "jackpotting" tactics—hardware and malware attacks that force machines to spit out cash—to steal more than $500,000 along a stretch of road from Darien to New Haven in just two weeks last summer, per NBC News. The men, all Venezuelan nationals who now live in New York, Massachusetts, and North Carolina, are accused of targeting eight locations starting Aug. 8, including a single hit in Fairfield that allegedly netted $136,000.

There was also an attempt to swipe cash at a ninth location, but authorities say a software security patch prevented that crime from happening, reports FOX61. According to a criminal complaint, surveillance images and photos taken by the suspects themselves show cash gushing from compromised ATMs and stacked in the back of a silver Toyota Highlander, per NBC. Cellphone data allegedly tied some of the defendants to the scenes at the times of the thefts, according to Homeland Security officials.

The four have been charged with interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy and ordered held without bail. Each faces up to 10 years in federal prison if convicted. Investigators say they're now reviewing other ATM thefts for potential links to the same crew. Two Venezuelan nationals were recently sentenced to more than six years behind bars for a similar jackpotting scheme in the Pacific Northwest that investigators say is tied to the Tren de Aragua gang, per MyNorthwest.com.