"Gee, boss. Isn't that Steven?"
There's no doubt about it. When robbery suspect photos are clear -- and the media displays them -- chances are quite good that someone in the viewing (or reading) audience will recognize the perp and notify the police.

That's just what happened Sunday down in Florida. A guy who worked at a Marco Island, FL restaurant was recognized by his boss and coworkers as the robber of a Fifth Third Bank branch in Naples last Friday. While robbing the bank, he was wearing a red wig restaurant employees had been given to wear on St. Patrick's Day. After his picture was published in the local paper, the jig was up. (Or, as one paper put it, "The wig is up.")

The robbery note was interesting. It reportedly read: "Hi! Don't wish to hurt anyone! You have 1:56 to get me out of here! In the lobby black bag 3.1 kilos of C4! Can be detonated up to 3 miles! 1st cop 1st problem Boom!!! $200,0000 OK!!" Is this guy attentive to detail, or what? It didn't help him avoid capture, however.

The bottom line is that two things are crucial. Clear surveillance photos, and media outlets willing to publish them.

Do you have any success stories about working with the media in your area to increase their use of bank robber photos? We'd love to hear them. Recently, we've seen too many news stories that read something like this: "Law enforcement authorities are seeking the public's help in identifying a serial bank robber who is believed to be responsible for X# of bank robberies in the __________ area. The suspect is a white male, 5'10", 180 pounds, with brown hair. When last seen, he was wearing blue jeans, a dark t-shirt, a baseball cap, and sunglasses." Is it any wonder those types of stories -- which appear without accompanying photos -- don't have any effect?

Michigan State University research indicates that 50% to 70% of identity theft originates in the workplace by employees and persons pretending to be employees. "Our research also showed that the majority of those identities were stolen first and foremost from health−care−related institutions, and secondly from financial institutions," said Judith Collins, MSU researcher.

Now there is a federal proposal to increase the penalties for those who abuse the information they have access to. The Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act would establish a new crime of aggravated identity theft that would increase the penalties for such a crime. This may be similar to credit access abuse where both the employer and the individual have liability. Financial institutions may soon be emphasizing this in regular training when the safeguarding and confidentiality of customer information is discussed.

Advice for Robber:
"Don't Use a Vanity License Plate on the Getaway Car!"
Thanks to Michael Mingley for alerting us to today's Ohio bank robbery that resulted in the arrest of the accomplice -- and the identification of the female robber, who has not yet been apprehended.

The robber was out of the bank with the money, probably thinking "So far, so good." That's when things began to go downhill. The dyepack exploded, the money got dropped, then witnesses observed the easy to remember license plate on the getaway vehicle: 4 Baby J. From there, the registration was traced, one man was arrested, and another arrest will probably occur in short order. News story.

Clues for Criminals
One of the challenges we have on BankersOnline involves walking the fine line between giving bankers the information they need to do their jobs, while not revealing sensitive and/or confidential information that could aid crooks.

What we all must face, however, is the reality that criminals already have access to a vast amount of security data. Take, for example, the How Stuff Works summary of how dye packs work. Take that awareness into account when you are training your tellers. If the bad guys know about dye packs and know what to look for to spot them, does that affect your decision about whether to use them -- or how they should be deployed?

How about this page on "How to Rob a Bank"? I can't tell if they thought they were being funny, or what. Not funny to me.

There are some true stories about dye packs, however, that are pretty humorous, and demonstrate how stupid some crooks are. One of my favorites is the serial bank robber who tried to convince cops that the dye pack dye on his hands came from coloring Easter eggs. Story. Plus, there was one last week where the dye pack exploded as the woman was getting into her purse to get the loot to open an account at another bank! Story.

Are Your Fraud Losses Up?
At last week's meeting of our local bank robbery task force, the discussion turned to the posting of the "No Hats, No Hoods, No Sunglasses" signs. Several bankers said they perceived the risk of robbery at their institution to be quite low (even though we've already experienced 32 bank robberies in our small state in 2004, as of April 27), and they therefore weren't interested in posting the signs for robbery prevention purposes, but they believed the posting of such a sign could have a positive effect in another area -- bank fraud suspect identification and apprehension.

From counterfeit payroll checks to forged endorsements on on-us checks, the incidence of check fraud appears to be increasing, and security officers are finding that surveillance video is fairly worthless in helping provide a description of fraudsters who are hiding behind ball caps and/or sunglasses.

By posting a sign that politely asks those entering the institution to remove sunglasses and headgear, one of three things will likely happen: l) the would-be thief will choose to go elsewhere; 2) the thief will remove obstructions to identification and you'll have good pictures of his face as he commits his fraud; or 3) the thief won't remove his headgear and sunglasses and your employees will pay close attention to his personal apppearance and his actions.

The more institutions who post the signs, the easier it will be for all institutions who post them. We want to make this the industry standard.

And while we're on the subject of video . . . Are you consistent about testing your equipment? If you're still using video, are you retiring tapes before they're worn out? Do you have a solid procedure for ensuring everything is operational and the camera angle is optimal? Nothing is more frustrating for law enforcement than to be faced with investigating a robbery where the cameras did not work.

Former U.S. Bank employee Kenneth David Easley of Redding CA has been arrested for identity theft. The bank's security division is working with the police and investigating the possibility that Easley created counterfeit checks with valid customer information and possibly had others cash them. He was a teller at the bank. Read more here.

Don't Deviate From Generally Accepted Banking Practices
The county attorney wouldn't ask a bank to do something that was wrong, would he? Well, in the case of Pratt County Tom Black from Kansas, the answer may be yes. He has been charged with misusing public funds after allegedly taking money orders, cash, and a check made payable to Pratt County Attorney and cashing them at a local bank. Do your tellers understand that if a check or money order is made payable to an entity (rather than an individual), they should not allow it to be cashed, nor should they allow it to be deposited into any account other than one belonging to the named payee? It's easy to be dissuaded from following prudent practices when the person asking you to do so is a person holding a position of trust -- such as the county attorney -- but this case serves as a reminder that those who commit fraud can come from all kinds of backgrounds. Prudent banking policies exist for a purpose and they must be followed without deviation.

The Game of Cops and Robbers gets twisted.
Five-year police veteran Gregory Augustine, and Danny Gerard Foster, both of New Orleans, were charged on April 23, 2004 in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit armed robbery of Bullard Road Hibernia Bank.

Augustine had approached a bank employee for help in the plan, in exchange for $500,000. The employee cooperated with FBI as a witness, and further encounters with Foster and Augustine were recorded. The conspiracy to commit armed robbery charge is up to $250,000 in fines, and five years to life in prison.

In the last two weeks there have been two other NOPD arrests, besides Augustine. One cop was arrested for contempt of court after arriving at an arraignment an hour and a half late and another was arrested for kidnapping, extortion, and malfeasance of office.

The police department has re-iterated its posistion that no person is above the law, including law enforcement officers.