Criminals hacking ATMs for illegal cash dispersals, a.k.a “Jackpotting,” have reportedly ripped off thousands of dollars in Texas and Wisconsin.
The U.S. Secret Service describes “jackpotting” as criminals manipulating ATMs into spitting out cash through “malicious software and/or computer hardware,” per KSAT. Unchecked, machines could potentially drain dry with a loss totaling in the thousands.
“The machine will just continue to dispense until it’s drained. It could be 97 dispenses, it could be 70,” said Laura Ward, chief risk officer for Firstmark Credit Union, told the outlet.
“These days we see all kinds of crimes, but this is a particularly different kind,” she added. “The ATMs are really being preyed upon. We call it an attack because it is an attack.”
In Houston,
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