A “SOPHISTICATED” gang of cash machine hackers who kicked off their spree by taking more than £90,000 from a Colchester ATM have been locked up for a combined total of13 years.

Each member of the six-strong group was involved in an organised crime gang which tampered with the wiring of cash machines across London, Essex and Kent.

The conspiracy saw £120,000 stolen from the machines after malware was installed.

The group would attach an electronic device containing the malicious software, which then prompted the cash dispenser to give out money.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the first theft took place on December 31, 2019, at Barclays Bank, in Colchester High Street.

A total of £94,220 was stolen and £5,879 worth of damage was inflicted.

Machines were then targeted in Northfleet, Gravesend, Greenwich, Bromley, Barking and Basildon across early 2020.

Petru-Giani Feraru, 23, Razvan Danaila, 30, Robert Danaila, 25, Victor Camara, 32, Ioan Constantin, 27, and Constantin Lupoaie, 18, all admitted conspiracy to steal.

Gazette: One of the thieves hacks a cash machine in NorthfleetOne of the thieves hacks a cash machine in Northfleet

Detectives gathered a variety of evidence, including CCTV footage which linked Feraru, Camara and both Danaila brothers to seven offences committed between January 2 and January 31.

This included the targeting of individual machines in London Road, Northfleet, and Valley Drive, Gravesend, on in January.

The four men were detained in Essex on the night of January 30 and, following their arrests, officers uncovered video footage on Feraru’s phone which showed the inner workings of a cash machine.

On April 6 a further offence took place in Basildon.

Essex Police officers arrived and, following a search of the area, stopped Constantin and Lupoaie for a search.

They went on to find Lupoaie in possession of a laptop used to hack the machine and messages on his mobile phone detailing the offending.

Feraru, of no fixed address, was sentenced to two years and one month imprisonment, Razvan Danaila, of Garnett Way, Walthamstow, to two years and six months, Robert Danaila, of Ilford Lane, Ilford, to two years and four months, Camara, of Eldeland, Basildon, to two years and four months, Constantin, of The Gore, Basildon, to three years and four months and Lupoaie, of no fixed address, to one year.