Two Ukrainian men residing in North Miami Beach, Roman Leskiv, 28, and Vitalii Moravel, 32, have been arrested in connection to a sophisticated "ATM jackpotting" scheme that siphoned sizeable sums of money from several ATMs in Miami-Dade. As reported by NBC Miami, the duo now faces charges including grand theft and organized fraud.
The scheme involved manipulating ATM systems to forcefully dispense cash, a method known to law enforcement and cybersecurity experts as "jackpotting." In a detailed account, detectives from Miami-Dade disclosed that the suspects supposedly managed to quickly access the ATMs' hardware through card entry slots and perform unauthorized transactions. Local authorities, including the U.S. Secret Service Miami Field Office, have been actively tracking several incidents of such ATM breaches throughout November, as also detailed by an Instagram post from CrimeWatchMiami.
On November 10, a convenience store on Northeast 19th Avenue fell victim to an illicit withdrawal of $4,500, with surveillance footage showing Moravel at the scene. This was followed by another case on November 12, where a Valero gas station reported a total loss of $5,200 due to fraudulent transactions at their ATM. NBC Miami reported these episodes citing surveillance materials showing both suspects using a card to perform the transactions at the respective times of the thefts.
The investigation uncovered various items in the apartments of Leskiv and Moravel, including electronic devices, a card re-encoder, blank cards, and large amounts of cash. In Moravel's apartment alone, authorities found $17,740 in cash and several Ukrainian passports not belonging to him or his family.
Both men were quickly arrested, and their assets were seized as evidence. The rapid response from law enforcement highlights the need for vigilance in tackling such high-tech crimes. Neither suspect has made a public statement or provided an attorney at this time.
