Over half a million dollars stolen from ATMs in Connecticut in "jackpotting" scheme, FBI says

Four men have been federally charged for allegedly stealing more than half a million dollars in a "jackpotting" scheme that targeted ATM machines across Connecticut, authorities said. "Jackpotting" is a type of heist method that involves using hardware or malware to force an ATM to dispense the money it has stored inside.Euclides Moreno Itanare, 28, Willian Ricardo Flores, 49, Alberto Jose Freites Arvilla, 41, and Luis Jose Freites Arvilla, 38, have all been arrested in connection with the alleged scheme, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New Haven. Each man faces charges for interstate transportation of stolen property and conspiracy. If convicted, they could receive up to 10 years in prison for the first charge and up to five years in prison for the second.Authorities said the men are from Raleigh, North Carolina; the Bronx and Queens, New York; and Lynn, Massachusetts. They're all also Venezuelan citizens, according to the district attorney and the FBI.The men allegedly tried to steal cash from at least nine ATM machines at various sites in Connecticut, several of which were located along Interstate 95, between Aug. 8 and Aug. 18, 2025, federal authorities said. The thefts occurred at eight ATMs, in the city of Milford and at rest stops in Fairfield, Branford, Madison and Darien. A ninth ATM in the city of Ansonia was equipped with software that prevented the theft from going through.Of the money taken from those eight machines, the men allegedly stole $529,220. The incidents were captured on surveillance footage, which appeared to show that each theft was carried out in a similar way, authorities said. Luis Freites Arvilla acted as "a lookout" while Alberto Freites Arvilla opened the ATM and accessed its internal parts before leaving the area. Over the next several hours, Luis Freites Arvilla, Itanare and Flores would take turns withdrawing cash from the machine, in some cases changing their clothes before approaching the same ATM multiple times."Jackpotting" incidents are on the rise in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI. In a report issued in February, federal investigators said that of 1,900 incidents reported since 2020, more than 700 of them occurred in 2025 alone. Those resulted in more than $20 million stolen, according to the report.