ATM ‘Jackpotting’ Scheme Hits Hamden: Feds

HAMDEN, CT — Two men face federal charges in connection to an alleged ATM “jackpotting” attack that occurred in Cromwell while authorities were investigating similar incidents in Hamden and Guilford. Alex Alberto Fajin-Diaz, a citizen of Spain, and Argenys Rodriguez, 21, of Springfield, Mass., were charged by federal complaint this week, U.S. States Attorney for Connecticut John H. Durham announced in a press release. They were arrested on related state charges on Jan. 27.

According to court documents and statements made in court, law enforcement agencies and ATM manufacturers have been investigating malware attacks on ATM machines in Connecticut and elsewhere. In a scheme commonly referred to as “jackpotting,” individuals use malware that is designed to cause an ATM to eject all of the money contained in the machine, according to authorities. As part of the scheme, individuals dressed as legitimate repair technicians install malware on an ATM. Other individuals then proceed to extract all of the cash from the ATM.

As alleged in the criminal complaint, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have been investigating recent jackpotting attacks on ATMs in Hamden and Guilford, as well as Providence, Rhode Island.

“On January 27, 2018, Citizens Bank investigators contacted police after they observed what appeared to be an attack on an ATM in Cromwell,” Durham wrote in a press release. “On that date, Cromwell Police encountered Fajin-Diaz and Rodriguez near an ATM that had been compromised with jackpotting malware and was in the process of dispensing $20 bills. A search of Fajin-Diaz and Rodriguez’s vehicle, which had a license plate that was assigned to another vehicle, revealed tools and electronic devices consistent with items needed to compromise an ATM machine to dispense its cash contents. Fajin-Diaz and Rodriguez also possessed more than $9,000 in $20 bills.”

The charge of bank fraud carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 30 years.

There was no further information immediately provided regarding the “jackpotting” investigations in Hamden and Guilford.

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