A new ATM hack being called ‘Jackpotting‘ is all over the news after thieves in Fairfax County, Virginia used the Jackpotting technique to make off with $175,000 from an ATM. The money was stolen from an ATM at an Apple Federal Credit Union last month.
Officers are now looking for the thieves and have distributed clear footage of the alleged thieves in the act.
What Is ‘Jackpotting’ — The ATM Hack Used To Steal $175K In Virginia
It is being called a “high tech scheme” where criminals are able to withdraw cash from the ATM without inserting a debit/ATM card or even without touching the machine itself.
Jackpotting is a new scheme and police are still sussing out how it all works. But they believe it involves criminals using malware to infect the ATM, through either a ‘black box’ of some sort or even through physical USB access, and they are able to compromise the ATM’s software in this manner. From there, the criminals are able to return at a later date and withdraw cash at will by hijacking the signal between the ATM and the bank’s computer(s).
The name ‘Jackpotting’ comes from ‘hitting the jackpot’ on a slot machine where it then spews out cash, at least on TV. These days slot machines mostly dispense digital credits that are then exchanged at the cage for actual cash.
Perhaps if the bank was working in a similar manner to the casinos and whoever was withdrawing had to come face to face with another human being this never would have happened. Alas, that’s not how ATMs work and it is not the value they provide to society.
How long has this been going on?
According to this recent report from news channel NBC4 Washington, the FBI warned banks about the potential risk of Jackpotting back in 2018. So while this $175,000 theft is less than a month old, the scheme is several years old. However, this is the first time a bank has been hit by Jackpotting in Fairfax County, one of the most populated counties in Virginia.
This local news segment features officers discussing all aspects of Jackpotting and how the hackers/criminals are using virtual black boxes to override ATM software for their gain:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fipBHn6Apj4
Ultimately, banks are insured. The loss of funds should not, in theory, fall on the customers. But the nature of this high-tech scam is concerning for many reasons.
As far as I can tell, the primary concern is thieves can access these ATMs by Jackpotting weeks if not months in advance. They can do this undetected. And then return back at their leisure to drain it of cash.
Pouring over hundreds if not thousands of hours of security camera footage could then prove fruitless as investigators seek to follow the bread crumb trail to the source. An investigation like that, even sped up with modern AI help, is time consuming and allows the thieves lots of time to cover their tracks. This would seem to be a situation where the banks / ATM operators need to proactively close any potential loopholes.
Last year, the Justice Department indicted six men for Jackpotting. This is evidently a manner of crime that law enforcement is taking very seriously.
The post What Is That? Thieves In Virginia Steal $175K Using ‘Jackpotting’ Technique appeared first on BroBible.
What Is That? Thieves In Virginia Steal $175K Using ‘Jackpotting’ Technique
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