A man has been nabbed for hacking into ATMs — programming them so he and accomplices could steal a quarter million dollars through a scheme called “jackpotting,” authorities said.
Eric Salazar Montano allegedly posed as an ATM technician for the plan, in which he managed to open a cash machine, and through some tinkering, turn it into a makeshift slot machine that indiscriminately spit cash. This new trick is called “jackpotting,” according to the Queens DA’s office.
Salazar Montano, 33, was caught on security footage wearing a fake uniform last Dec., fiddling with the machine and leaving, authorities said. Immediately, a line of people appeared at the machine, and without using bank cards removed $154,000 in cash.
Two days later, Salazar Montano and another person were again caught on video messing with another ATM, and then walking away with more than $87,000.
The 33-year-old was slapped with charges of second-degree grand larceny, first-degree computer tampering, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and computer trespass.
His cohorts are still at large.
“As society becomes more tech savvy, today’s criminals are keeping pace and finding new ways to enrich themselves illegally,” Queens DA Richard Brown said in a statement.
If convicted, Salazar Montano faces up to 15 years behind bars.
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