MARSHFIELD, Wis.− Local police are investigating a recent “jackpotting” theft from an ATM located at Simplicity Credit Union here, the Marshfield News-Herald reported.
The crime is suspected to be related to six other similar incidents that have recently occurred across this state.
The $491-million credit union first became aware of the attack after receiving a “low balance alert,” which is a normal cue to refill the machine, Sarah Arnoldy, chief experience officer for Simplicity, stated in an email to the Marshfield News-Herald.
Jackpotting involves a hacker installing malware on an ATM causing it to spit out all its money.
Malware on the machine prevented the branch manager from verifying the cash levels in the machine and the hardware vendor confirmed the machine had been tampered with, Marshfield News-Herald said.
The amount of money stolen from the machine was not disclosed.
Credit union members’ personal financial information is stored separately from the ATM and was not breached in the attack, the CU said.
“This was a highly specific and deliberate attack on the ATM at our Upham Street location, carried out using external tools and malware,” the credit union told the Marshfield News-Herald. “We want to assure everyone that these types of targeted ATM attacks do not involve member accounts, personal information, or any internal systems.”