From Lt. Steve Dorris–Official Press Release:
Harris County District Attorney
KIM OGG New Cyber Crimes Unit prosecuting three for “jackpotting” scheme
Three men have been indicted for trying to “jackpot” an automatic-teller machine as
part of a scheme using a laptop computer to force an ATM to spit out its payload,
authorities said Wednesday.
“ATM Jackpotting is just one of many financial cybercrimes occurring in the Houston
area,” Assistant District Attorney Keith Houston said. “Criminals turn to the dark net
to further their reach.”
The trio sought to rob an automatic teller machine in December at the Baytown
branch of Amegy Bank of Texas, he said.
The case is being prosecuted by the new Cybercrimes Section of the Financial
Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Other financial cybercrimes include such areas as compromised email, network
intrusion and data tampering.
All three defendants were indicted Tuesday for the charges of breach of computer
security and attempted theft of an ATM’s contents. If convicted they face two to ten
years in prison on each charge.
Defendants include Juan Carlos Navarro Miranda, 35, and Jose Angel Diaz Toledo,
40, who were arrested by Baytown Police and Manuel A. Medina, 37, who remains a
fugitive.
Navarro and Diaz were arrested at the scene while wearing bogus uniforms to try and
pass themselves off as ATM technicians. Medina, who has a New Jersey driver license listing an Elizabeth, N.J. address, fled
the area in a separate vehicle.
“The quick action of our patrol officers in responding to this call was key to the
apprehension of defendants in this case,” Baytown Police Lt. Steve Dorris said.
“Once the case was assigned to our investigations division we worked closely with the
District Attorney’s Office’s high tech crimes team to obtain enough evidence to indict
all three defendants,” Dorris said.
The U.S. Secret Service recently issued a warning to financial institutions about ATM
jackpotting.
If you believe you are a victim of a cybercrime, please contact your local law
enforcement or file a complaint online with the Internet Crime Complaint Center www.ic3.gov