Over half a million stolen in ATM 'jackpotting' scheme, officials say

Four men stole more than half a million dollars from Connecticut ATMs and have been charged in federal court, authorities said.

The robberies unfolded in August 2025, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut. The men conspired to steal cash from at least nine ATMs that month in a "jackpotting" scheme, which involves "using specialized hardware and malware that forces an ATM to dispense its stored cash," prosecutors said in a June 29 press release.

Euclides Moreno Itanare, 28, of Raleigh, North Carolina; Willian Ricardo Flores, 49, of the Bronx, New York; Alberto Jose Freites Arvilla, 41, of Queens, New York; and Luis Jose Freites Arvilla, 38, of Lynn, Massachusetts, were arrested on June 25 and charged with interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy. They are all Venezuelan nationals, prosecutors said.

At least nine ATMs in southern Connecticut were targeted between Aug. 8 and Aug. 18, 2025, according to a criminal complaint. One of the ATMs had a recently installed software patch that prevented the men from stealing any cash, but a total of $529,220 was taken from the eight others, investigators said in the complaint. An ATM in Fairfield, Connecticut, at a rest area off Interstate 95 had the highest total stolen, at $136,000, the complaint said.

If convicted, the men face up to 10 years in federal prison for the interstate transportation of stolen property charges and up to five years for the conspiracy charges. USA TODAY has reached out to the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Connecticut for comment.

How the 'jackpotting' scheme worked

According to investigators in the criminal complaint, the men carried out a similar pattern at each of the ATMs they hit in the scheme, as seen on surveillance videos.

First, Alberto Freites Arvilla would unplug the ATM and use a bezel key to open its hood, accessing the inside of the machine while Luis Freites Arvilla stood watch. Alberto Freites Arvilla inserted a card into a computer component of the ATM, then plugged the ATM back in and turned it on, then left the area.

Itanare, Flores and Luis Freites Arvilla would then take turns appearing to approach the ATM, insert a card and enter a PIN, withdraw cash, and then repeat the process. They would sometimes change clothes in between to "avoid suspicion when approaching the same ATM multiple times for extended periods," investigators wrote in the complaint. They would continue the process for up to several hours at each location, according to the complaint.

The men put the cash inside waist packs or their pockets, investigators said. Photos apparently taken by the men themselves show wads of cash on the seat of a car, in a plastic bag and in stacks on the floor of a location in New York.

More than $500,000 stolen from ATMs

Here's what was stolen from each ATM targeted by the men, according to the criminal complaint:

• Aug. 8, 2025: $23,200 from an ATM at Cumberland Farms convenience store in Milford, Connecticut
• Aug. 8, 2025: No loss from an ATM at Cumberland Farms, Ansonia, Connecticut, due to a software patch that prevented this type of theft
• Aug. 14, 2025: $136,000 from an ATM at an I-95 rest area in Fairfield, Connecticut
• Aug. 15, 2025: $66,400 from an ATM at an I-95 rest area in Branford, Connecticut
• Aug. 16, 2025: $42,020 from an ATM at an I-95 rest area in Madison, Connecticut
• Aug. 16, 2025: $84,000 from an ATM at an I-95 rest area in Madison, Connecticut
• Aug. 17, 2025: $61,600 from an ATM at an I-95 rest area in Darien, Connecticut
• Aug. 18, 2025: $58,400 from an ATM at an I-95 rest area in Darien, Connecticut
• Aug. 18, 2025: $57,600 from an ATM at an I-95 rest area in Darien, Connecticut