¶ ATM Hacking
One of the easiest and most consistent, non-violent ways of making money as a criminal is to rob ATMs of their money, using ATM Hacking Devices sold by the Hacker.
ATM Hacking Devices are illegal items, so be cautious of being arrested by cops after buying them to avoid losing the devices.
¶ How to buy ATM Hacking Devices ?
To buy ATM hacking devices, you need to go to the Hacker 
: The hacker is Lester from GTA:V story mode / GTA:O and you can find him inside his house.
Each ATM hacking device costs $77,000 to buy and can only be bought using cash, as they are illegal items. Make sure to have the money ready before going to the Hacker. You cannot shoplift these, as it will always fail and give you the “shoplifting” felony, resulting in you receiving a wanted level.
You can only buy and store up to 3 ATM hacking devices in your inventory, each taking around ≈500g's in inventory space. (but you can always store them inside a warehouse)
¶ How to Hack ATMs?
After you have bought your ATM hacking devices, you need to find an ATM to hack : they are shown on your mini-map with a 
(only ATMs that are near your position will show up). Most ATMs are spread around Points of Interest (Weapon shops, Police Departments, grocery stores,…) as well as densely populated areas (Downtown, Rockford, La Mesa,…).
Once you have found an ATM you can hack, get close to it and press B to start hacking it : doing so will consume one ATM Hacking Device and will put you in a ≈20 seconds animation which can not be cancelled until the ATM is hacked.
If the ATM hacking is successful, you will get a random amount of money ranging from $95,000 to $215,000 depending on your luck : if you take into account the price of the ATM hacking device you consumed, you have received a nice $18,000 to $138,000 in profit.
If you get more than $150,000 from one hacked ATM, there will be a notification sent to all players in the activity feed just above the mini-map, at the bottom-left side of the screen.
After hacking an ATM, you have a 5 minute delay before you are able to hack any other ATMs, and the ATM you hacked cannot be used to manage your money and cannot be hacked for ≈10 minutes.
¶ Tips & Tricks
- Always be careful when buying at Lester's (the Hacker) : if you have a wanted level when going inside, cops can ambush you and seize your freshly bought ATM hacking devices if they manage to arrest you. In Hardcore servers (NA3 and EU2) there is a redzone around the Hacker's house, which means you also have to watch out for other players that can kill you and/or try to pickpocket you (see Pickpocketing)
- Make sure there aren't any cops or players around you when hacking an ATM : you are vulnerable to any attempts to arrest, pickpocket or kill you, because you cannot cancel the animation, so make sure to always check your surroundings or have a friend cover you while you hack the ATM
- There isn't a limit to how many players can hack the same ATM at once : you can hack the same ATM at the same time with your friends, as long as you keep a bit of distance to avoid accidentally pickpocketing them, as the key for both actions are the same (B)
- Try to hack ATMs that are indoors / in hard-to-reach places / in unpopulated areas by players : this way you can hack them pretty safely without having any risk of a cop coming to try to arrest you, or a player trying to pickpocket you.
¶ Pickpocketing
Pickpocketing is the act of stealing cash from the pockets of either non-emergency players or NPCs, with players being the more profitable but riskier of the two.
¶ How to Pickpocket players ?
To pickpocket a player, it's pretty simple : all you need to do is get close to them when they are on foot, then press B to steal their wallet : if the pickpocket attempt was successful, you will then receive a prompt in the top-left of your screen to leave the area to get your loot : a yellow circle zone will also appear on your map, you need to escape from this area alive to receive the money reward.
You can pickpocket up to $200,000 in cash from one player, with each successful pickpocket taking 20% of their cash balance : that means that you can pickpocket $200,000 from any player who has more than $1,000,000 in cash. You can only pickpocket a player once per minute, and a pickpocketed player cannot be pickpocketed again for ≈2 to 3 minutes.
Pickpocketing a player gives them a right of revenge! Even if the pickpocketing fails / you stole a fake wallet, the victim of the attempted pickpocketing will get notified that you stole from them / tried to steal from them, which means they will be able to kill you to get their money back and/or to try to get their revenge on you for trying to rob them.
You can only fight back if they start assaulting you, you cannot attack the player as a precaution.
If a police officer is near the target player and is watching both of you when you pickpocket the target, you will get a “Pickpocketing” felony.
¶ Pickpocketing can fail for multiple reasons :
- Simply no luck : pickpocketing is luck-dependant, so you have a chance to fail to pickpocket both players and NPCs alike.
- Target player doesn't have any cash on them
- You stole a fake wallet : civilians can buy fake wallets at the convenience store : each fake wallet has a 90% chance of being stolen instead of the players wallet.
- Target player is near a shop / inside a safe-zone : you cannot pickpocket a player while they are near a shop cashier, or if they are inside a safe zone.
- Target player an emergency services worker : you cannot pickpocket Police Officers or Paramedics players
¶ How to pickpocket NPCs ?
Pickpocketing NPCs works the same as players. All you need to do is get close to them when they are on foot, then press B to steal their wallet. Unlike with players, a successful pickpocket will immediately give you cash, ranging from $2,000 to $20,000 depending on your luck.
A failed pickpocket will make the target NPC call the cops, which will give you a “Pickpocketing” felony.
Sometimes NPCs will start punching you or firing a weapon at you if you failed to pickpocket them.
You have to wait ≈15 seconds before pickpocketing another NPC.
¶ Tips & Tricks
→ Target AFK players or drug dealers : AFK players won't assault you if they are away from their game, which in most cases makes them pretty safe targets. As for drug dealers, they stay in the same spot to sell drugs and always have cash on them after selling, making them a risky, yet almost always profitable pickpocket target.
→ Use a fast and/or bulletproof vehicle to get away : To ensure you stay alive after pickpocketing a player, use a fast vehicle to get away quickly and dodge bullets (bikes, supercars) or a bulletproof vehicle for additional protection (no back windows vehicles, armored vehicles)
→ If you don't want to be pickpocketed or you want to avoid losing too much money, deposit your cash into your bank using an ATM or buy fake wallets at grocery stores, as you can only pickpocket cash.
→ Pickpocketing from the back of a target gives additional chance of success, even if a player can see you with their 3rd person camera, it still gives a little boost.