Out of the 1,900 ATM jackpotting incidents reported since 2000, more than 700 occurred last year alone, resulting in roughly $20 million in losses, the FBI said in a new alert.
Criminals are deploying ATM jackpotting malware, including the Ploutus family malware, to infect ATMs and force them to dispense cash, the FBI said. Ploutus attacks the ATM itself rather than customer accounts, enabling fast cash-out operations that can occur in minutes and are often difficult to detect until after the money is withdrawn.
The alert lists several indicators that an ATM has been compromised with malware. It also encourages financial institutions to take steps to enhance both the physical security and hardware security of ATMs, such as installing threat sensors that alert personnel to suspicious activity and enabling hard drive encryption.
The agency encourages financial institutions that have identified suspicious activity to contact their local FBI field office, and to report the activity to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center. Each report should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people, and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.
