Wednesday, June 17, 2009
In Dedham, MA, Delroy G. Henry pushed his way into the Citizens Bank as it opened. He showed what appeared to be a pistol and wanted the employees to gather in a corner. As he was looking for the vault, the branch manager sent a text message to the Norwood branch manager and said what was happening. That triggered a call to the police who happened to be at a construction site 300 feet away.
Henry was exiting the bank a few minutes later and found about a dozen local and state police officers waiting for him.
Maybe cell phones, used responsibly, have a good place in the bank and need to be handy.
And in Peabody, MA, an FBI investigation resulted in Jeffrey Gautreaux being indicted on 17 counts of bank fraud, one count of access device fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Gautreaux, a Bank of America teller, sold confidential customer information to others who used the information and stole from the customer accounts. The balance information he could provide allowed "cherry picking" for maximum gain. Gautreaux was employed there from November 2004 to February 2006. He was selling this information and it was being accessed for about a year starting in July 2005.
Accounts that were affected were based in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. Unauthorized amounts taken from accounts ranged from $2,800 to $38,100. Gautreaux's share was $270,000. Gautreaux could serve up to 30 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine on each count of bank fraud. He could also serve 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 for the access device fraud charge and two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.
Some of this information may serve as good examples in your next security seminar.
Henry was exiting the bank a few minutes later and found about a dozen local and state police officers waiting for him.
Maybe cell phones, used responsibly, have a good place in the bank and need to be handy.
And in Peabody, MA, an FBI investigation resulted in Jeffrey Gautreaux being indicted on 17 counts of bank fraud, one count of access device fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Gautreaux, a Bank of America teller, sold confidential customer information to others who used the information and stole from the customer accounts. The balance information he could provide allowed "cherry picking" for maximum gain. Gautreaux was employed there from November 2004 to February 2006. He was selling this information and it was being accessed for about a year starting in July 2005.
Accounts that were affected were based in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New Hampshire. Unauthorized amounts taken from accounts ranged from $2,800 to $38,100. Gautreaux's share was $270,000. Gautreaux could serve up to 30 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine on each count of bank fraud. He could also serve 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 for the access device fraud charge and two years in prison for aggravated identity theft.
Some of this information may serve as good examples in your next security seminar.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Let's see, 1 + 1 = Dumb
Joseph Wade Northington, 27, of Roanoke, VA went to North Augusta, S.C. last January. When he returned to Virginia he was visiting a friend. The friend recognized Northington as the man he saw in the media, as a suspect in a bank robbery in North Augusta. The authorities were notified.
Northington had a scar on his face and this was a match for the suspect. But what nailed him was MySpace. Northington updated his MySpace page to say "One in the head still ain't dead!!!!!! On tha run for robbin a bank Love all of yall."
He has plead guilty and is now facing a fine of $250,000 and prison for seven years to life.
In Phoenix, AZ Jonathan Hock, 20, has been arrested for sexual assault. The victim was his girlfriend of two weeks. She told police she had passed out and wasn't aware she had been assaulted, until friends of hers said they saw it on the internet. Hock had planted a webcam in her bedroom and drank with her until she passed out. He streamed the video of the rape to the web, and provided commentary about it. When the prosecutor says "film at 11" he means it and Hock will have a difficult time explaining this. The video has been taken down.
And last, remember years ago when email and voice mail users were cautioned not to provide a message of "I'm on a week of vacation and out of town" because it was like painting a target on their property? Israel and Noell Hyman were on their way out of town. Being Twitter posters, they posted messages like "preparing to head out of town," "another 10 hours of driving ahead," and "made it to Kansas City." Isreal now believes these messages were used as clearance for the burglars who stole his video editing equipment from their home in Mesa, AZ.
While many people do think about their email auto-response messages, voice mail messages and not allowing newspapers or mail to build up while they are out of town, they are not considering the affects of social networking.
Technology has to be used wisely. In the first two parts of this post, this was a great result. In the third part, users need to think outside of the box and consider what their messages may say to a thief.
Joseph Wade Northington, 27, of Roanoke, VA went to North Augusta, S.C. last January. When he returned to Virginia he was visiting a friend. The friend recognized Northington as the man he saw in the media, as a suspect in a bank robbery in North Augusta. The authorities were notified.
Northington had a scar on his face and this was a match for the suspect. But what nailed him was MySpace. Northington updated his MySpace page to say "One in the head still ain't dead!!!!!! On tha run for robbin a bank Love all of yall."
He has plead guilty and is now facing a fine of $250,000 and prison for seven years to life.
In Phoenix, AZ Jonathan Hock, 20, has been arrested for sexual assault. The victim was his girlfriend of two weeks. She told police she had passed out and wasn't aware she had been assaulted, until friends of hers said they saw it on the internet. Hock had planted a webcam in her bedroom and drank with her until she passed out. He streamed the video of the rape to the web, and provided commentary about it. When the prosecutor says "film at 11" he means it and Hock will have a difficult time explaining this. The video has been taken down.
And last, remember years ago when email and voice mail users were cautioned not to provide a message of "I'm on a week of vacation and out of town" because it was like painting a target on their property? Israel and Noell Hyman were on their way out of town. Being Twitter posters, they posted messages like "preparing to head out of town," "another 10 hours of driving ahead," and "made it to Kansas City." Isreal now believes these messages were used as clearance for the burglars who stole his video editing equipment from their home in Mesa, AZ.
While many people do think about their email auto-response messages, voice mail messages and not allowing newspapers or mail to build up while they are out of town, they are not considering the affects of social networking.
Technology has to be used wisely. In the first two parts of this post, this was a great result. In the third part, users need to think outside of the box and consider what their messages may say to a thief.
Friday, June 05, 2009
P Poor Prior Planning
In Daytona Beach, FL Tuesday, police arrested two bank robbers who went into he Riverside National Bank and demanded money from a teller. Randall Fredric Walker 38, and Jason Warren Dietrich 35, began their getaway in a Jeep Cherokee. The vehicle however, ran out of gas. The two robbers then fled on foot. Police found the vehicle, which was registered to Dietrich and that lead them to both robbers.
I suppose if they're not smart enough to have gas in the getaway car, we can understand why they'd think robbing a bank was a good idea.
In Daytona Beach, FL Tuesday, police arrested two bank robbers who went into he Riverside National Bank and demanded money from a teller. Randall Fredric Walker 38, and Jason Warren Dietrich 35, began their getaway in a Jeep Cherokee. The vehicle however, ran out of gas. The two robbers then fled on foot. Police found the vehicle, which was registered to Dietrich and that lead them to both robbers.
I suppose if they're not smart enough to have gas in the getaway car, we can understand why they'd think robbing a bank was a good idea.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Quality Family Time
They say that eating dinner together, as a family, is quality time. Whoever said that hasn't met the Clements family in Anaheim, CA. They are accused of robbing banks together.
Last January 27 a branch of Bank of the West was robbed. An armed man kidnapped a teller at her home. She was forced to drive to her branch where she called another teller over to her car. The first teller was told to get money from the vault and return to the car, which she did. Both tellers were then driven away and the armed man fled.
A three-month joint investigation between the Anaheim police and the FBI resulted in the arrests of Charles Clements, 48, his wife Tammy, 45, and her son Bryan Bradley, 28. Charles Clements was arrested on suspicion of robbery and kidnapping. Tammy was arrested for investigation of robbery and harboring a felon. Bradley was booked on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy.
The family plotted this robbery by studying the work patterns of the branch employees. It should always be recommended that employees break a pattern of driving the same way, at the same time, to and from work. Opening and closing practices for a branch should not be obvious and should be changed regularly, as well as tested. While bank robberies like this can't all be prevented, they can be made more difficult in hopes that the robbers would move on instead of trying this one.
They say that eating dinner together, as a family, is quality time. Whoever said that hasn't met the Clements family in Anaheim, CA. They are accused of robbing banks together.
Last January 27 a branch of Bank of the West was robbed. An armed man kidnapped a teller at her home. She was forced to drive to her branch where she called another teller over to her car. The first teller was told to get money from the vault and return to the car, which she did. Both tellers were then driven away and the armed man fled.
A three-month joint investigation between the Anaheim police and the FBI resulted in the arrests of Charles Clements, 48, his wife Tammy, 45, and her son Bryan Bradley, 28. Charles Clements was arrested on suspicion of robbery and kidnapping. Tammy was arrested for investigation of robbery and harboring a felon. Bradley was booked on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy.
The family plotted this robbery by studying the work patterns of the branch employees. It should always be recommended that employees break a pattern of driving the same way, at the same time, to and from work. Opening and closing practices for a branch should not be obvious and should be changed regularly, as well as tested. While bank robberies like this can't all be prevented, they can be made more difficult in hopes that the robbers would move on instead of trying this one.
