A total of 87 defendants have been charged in relation to the case, involving massive theft from ATMs across the United States.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Jan. 26 said that a grand jury had returned an additional indictment against 31 people allegedly involved in a scheme to steal millions of dollars from ATMs through the use of malware.
“This indictment alleges 32 counts including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank burglary and computer fraud, bank fraud, bank burglary, and damage to computers,” the DOJ said in a statement.
These individuals join 56 others who have already been charged in connection with the case, bringing the total number charged to 87. According to the DOJ, the 87 people are “Venezuelan and Colombian nationals including illegal alien Tren de Aragua (TdA) members.”
The DOJ said the alleged conspiracy “developed and deployed a variant of malware known as Ploutus, which was used to hack into ATMs and force ATMs to dispense cash.”
According to the additional indictment, members of the conspiracy would conduct reconnaissance and take notes of security features at targeted banks and ATMs. After initially removing the hood or door of an ATM, they allegedly waited nearby to see whether the action had triggered an alarm or alerted law enforcement.
After confirming no immediate response, the members of the conspiracy allegedly removed the ATM hard drives directly, replacing them with one pre-loaded with Ploutus malware, or connecting an external device such as a thumb drive to deploy the malware.
“The Ploutus malware’s primary purpose was to issue unauthorized commands associated with the Cash Dispensing Module of the ATM in order to force withdrawals of currency,” the DOJ said.
“The Ploutus malware was also designed to delete evidence of malware in an effort to conceal, create a false impression, mislead, or otherwise deceive employees of the banks and credit unions from learning about the deployment of the malware on the ATM.”
The indictment is the latest in an expanding investigation into so-called ATM jackpotting, following an Oct. 21 filing related to the case.
By Joseph Lord
