ATM jackpotting scammer busted

WAUPACA — A Chicago man is facing multiple felony charges in Waupaca County Circuit Court after forensic data and surveillance footage allegedly linked him to a series of attempted “jackpotting” manipulations on local automated teller machines.
Enhort L. Araujo Valero, 25, was charged on April 6 with two counts of attempted interference with an automated teller machine and one count of felony bail jumping.
ATM jackpotting is a fraud where criminals force the machine to dispense all its cash, similar to a slot machine hitting a jackpot. They bypass the bank’s network security and emptying the machine’s cash cassettes completely.
First, the scammer pries open the top plate of the ATM or uses stolen keys to open it up. Once inside, they install malware to take control of the machine’s cash dispense and command the machine to dispense all available banknotes via the keypad or a smartphone.
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation began on Dec. 18, 2025, when Waupaca County Detective Sergeant Nathan Nelson was notified by state investigators that Araujo Valero had been arrested for ATM jackpotting in the Mountain Bay area.
Forensic data retrieved from the defendant’s cellular device revealed a search history for several banks in Waupaca, Fremont, and Weyauwega.
Surveillance footage obtained from local financial institutions captured a silver Hyundai Elantra with Illinois plates, visiting various ATMs during the early morning hours of Dec. 11, 2025.
At the Premier Community Bank in Waupaca, a manager reported seeing a male matching the defendant’s description recording the ATM with an iPhone.
At the Farmers State Bank in Fremont, footage showed the suspect exiting the vehicle to manipulate the machine with a photo in his hand while looking underneath the unit.
The complaint further alleges that at the Farmers State Bank in Waupaca, the suspect placed an unknown device below the ATM screen and attempted to manipulate the machine by pushing various buttons.
Investigators noted that the suspect never inserted a debit or credit card during any of these interactions.
“It is clear and evident that his intent was not to utilize any of the ATMs for standard ATM uses,” Nelson wrote in the complaint.
The investigation eventually expanded across state lines. Analysts with the Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center linked the vehicle used in Waupaca County to similar jackpotting attempts in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Jan. 5, 2026, and a previous attempt in Kansas.
At the time of the alleged offenses in Waupaca County, Araujo Valero was out on bond for a previous felony case in Marathon County.