US authorities are suing 54 individuals for their roles in a large conspiracy to deploy malware and steal millions of dollars from ATMs in the United States.
According to the Department of Justice, these people were members of a criminal organization known as Tren de Aragua. The organization originally started as a prison gang in Venezuela, but over time expanded to a criminal network throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Tren de Aragua’s criminal activities include a variety of violent and criminal offenses, such as drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, commercial sex trafficking, kidnapping, robbery, theft, fraud, and extortion. It also participated in a nationwide ATM jackpotting scheme to steal millions of dollars in cash from ATMs.
To obtain the money, the gang developed and deployed malicious software known as Ploutus. To install the malware, attackers required physical access to the ATM.
Once the fraudsters gained access, they replaced the ATM’s hard drive with one that had been pre-loaded with the Ploutus malware, or connected a thumb drive to install the malware.
The malware’s primary purpose was to issue unauthorized commands associated with the Cash Dispensing Module of the ATM to force withdrawals of currency. The malicious software was also designed to delete evidence in an effort to conceal criminal activities and mislead bank employees about what had happened.
According to the Department of Justice, there have been 1,529 ATM jackpotting incidents across the United States in recent years, in which Tren de Aragua managed to steal $40.73 million.
Because of this, 54 suspects are currently being indicted. They are being accused of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, bank fraud, bank burglary, related activity in connection with computers, and money laundering.
“As alleged, these defendants employed methodical surveillance and burglary techniques to install malware into ATM machines, and then steal and launder money from the machines, in part to fund terrorism and the other far-reaching criminal activities of Tren de Aragua (TDA), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum prison sentence ranging between 20 and 335 years.
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