'Jackpotting' robberies of ATMs prompt warning from Secret Service

WASHINGTON (KABC) -- The U.S. Secret Service has issued a warning to banks across the country about so-called jackpotting, a sophisticated new method of robbing automatic teller machines.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, thieves execute jackpotting cyberattacks by installing malicious software and/or hardware at ATMs, which in some cases have dispensed cash at a rate of 40 bills every 23 seconds.

Robbers have typically targeted stand-alone ATMs located in pharmacies, big-box retailers, and drive-through ATMs.

"Criminals range from individual suspects to large organized groups, from local criminals to international organized crime syndicates," the Secret Service said in a statement, adding that the thieves sometimes pose as ATM technicians in uniform.

About a dozen jackpotting robberies are being investigated across the U.S.