They call it "jackpotting."
A Queens man is accused of stealing nearly a quarter of a million dollars from ATMs by hacking them to dispense cash like winning a slot machine jackpot.
Prosecutors say 33-year-old Eric Salazar Montano posed as a technician and manipulated ATMs at a grocery store and kiosk. They say he would return minutes later with accomplices who would, one by one, remove thousands of dollars from the machines without a bank card.
The thieves collected $154,000 from one ATM and $87,000 from the other.
Salazar Montano was arraigned Tuesday night on larceny, criminal possession of a forced instrument and computer tampering and trespass charges.
His attorney, Victor Knapp, calls his client a "family man with no criminal record."
Copyright AP - Associated Press
