Two citizens of Tajikistan have been implicated in a sophisticated cybercrime scheme targeting ATMs in the United States, known as "jackpotting"—a method where malware is used to force machines to dispense large amounts of cash.
According to U.S. media reports, authorities in Lincoln County, Maine, were first alerted to the cyberattacks on February 21, 2025. Local law enforcement responded to multiple reports of suspicious ATM activity across stores on Maine’s Midcoast, discovering what they later described as a “widespread cyberattack.”
The attackers reportedly exploited ATM systems either by directly connecting USB devices or remotely accessing network vulnerabilities. The malware allowed the suspects to withdraw money while making the transactions appear legitimate.
Maine Wire reported on November 10 that investigators uncovered the cyber scheme after several ATM operators noticed unauthorized withdrawals. The scam, commonly referred to as ATM "jackpotting," allowed the culprits to steal thousands of dollars in cash.
Three suspects were identified through surveillance footage and license plate reader data: Nurmukhammad Rakhmonzoda, 26, and Firdavs Jonmahmadovich Radzhabov, 35, both Tajik nationals, and Milad Avazdavani, 36, an Iranian national who also used the alias Melech Vasquez.
Q106.5 reported on November 11 that the three men are believed to be responsible for stealing more than $10,000 from ATMs in Maine, through a 'jackpotting' scheme.
Avazdavani was apprehended on March 31, 2025, in Charleston, South Carolina, under the alias Vasquez. Although he was taken into custody, he was later released for reasons that remain unclear. Avazdavani has a prior criminal record; in 2016, he was convicted in Florida for stealing over $260,000 in airline miles from American Airlines frequent flyer accounts.
Rakhmonzoda was arrested a day earlier, on March 30, in Miami and extradited to Maine. He is currently being held at the Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset and faces multiple theft charges across three counties. On November 5, he appeared in court and accepted the terms of a deferred disposition, agreeing to pay more than $38,000 in restitution. If he fulfills the terms, he will be convicted of misdemeanor theft before being extradited to Florida to face separate charges.
The third suspect, Radzhabov, remains at large.
