Cops find ATM spewing cash, car with dodgy plates, stack of $20 bills and hacking kit inside

US authorities have arrested a pair suspected of being involved in a recent wave of Automatic Teller Machine "jackpotting" heists.

The crimes came to light in late January 2017 when ATM-makers Diebold and Nixdorf warned banks to be on the lookout for jackpotters in the US. The US Secret Service weighed in with its own news that raiders had already made off with more than US$1 million.

Jackpotting attacks usually involve pushing malware into the target ATM. The Diebold and Nixdorf alert identified Ploutus-D, malware that causes an ATM to cough up all its cash and which was used in similar attacks in Latin America.

On Monday, the United States Department of Justice announced it had arrested 21-year-old Springfield Massachusetts resident Argenys Rodriguez and a 31-year-old Spanish citizen, Alex Alberto Fajin-Diaz, for their part in a jackpotting operation.

The pair were spotted near a Citizens Bank ATM in Cromwell, Connecticut, which had been compromised and was in the process of disgorging its load of $20 bills.

When police searched the suspects' vehicle – which had “floater” plates from another car – they found “tools and electronic devices consistent with items needed to compromise an ATM”, as well as more than $9,000 in twenties.

The arrests happened on January 27. The pair were brought before a judge on Monday, February 5th. They currently remain in detention.

Authorities are still investigating jackpotting attacks in Connecticut towns (Hamden and Guilford) and in Providence, Rhode Island. ®