It was raining cash on ATM hacking crew, until indictment landed

SACRAMENTO — The incidents fit a familiar pattern, with a reconnaissance team surveilling automated teller machines, followed by one or two burglars who would come back and make it rain cash.

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The crew was prolific, hitting targets around California’s Central Valley but also as far away as Washington state and Nebraska. Now that two suspects have been indicted, prosecutors identified incidents across five states where more than $200,000 was stolen and other failed attempts were made.

In an indictment filed last month, Joel Morantes Leal and Endis Gonzalez Ortega were charged with conspiracy and hacking or attempting to hack ATMs. The indictment alleges the two worked with other unnamed people to attach “foreign devices” to ATMs that make them dispense cash like crazy.

The charging records describe hacking incidents in Visalia, Tulare, and evidence the crew’s vehicle also traveled to Lake Tahoe, Bakersfield and Carson City, Nevada. There were also alleged crimes in Oregon, Washington, Nebraska, and Colorado, according to court records.

Ironically, the ATMs themselves may have led to the arrests. Federal agents were able to link pictures from surveillance footage to suspects’ social media profiles, according to the criminal complaint. Morantes Leal and Gonzalez Ortega were arrested in Colorado and extradited to Sacramento to face the charges, records show.