tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63022462010-03-19T07:27:51.054-07:00Bank Security Blog - BankersOnlineA running account of bank robberies, fraud and other financial crime.Mary Bethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15381679113144771864noreply@blogger.comBlogger163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-54793454196808405652010-03-19T07:27:00.001-07:002010-03-19T07:27:51.069-07:00Hero sues bankRichard Camp, 39, is a general contractor in Long Beach, CA. He has been a customer at Farmers and Merchants Bank for nine years. He was in the bank when it was robbed. Camp stepped up and tackled the armed robber. In the process he took a bullet in the thigh and a woman was also shot. Camp expected the bank to pay him a reward. He thought they would at least pay his medical bills. Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-79256082794645919272010-03-18T15:58:00.000-07:002010-03-18T16:02:35.309-07:00No luck of the Irish for this bank robberWe often get nervous around Halloween because costumes that conceal a bank robbers identity are more common. We saw a Santa Clause last year. And on March 17th, Saint Patrick's Day, we saw our first leprechaun. The accounts tell us a man wearing a green top hat, vest, shorts and a fake brown beard and wig went into a Fifth Third branch near Nashville, TN. Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-44811210360721599932010-02-27T15:04:00.000-08:002010-03-01T11:38:47.935-08:00Card Fraud: Over a 44 day period, three Bulgarian men are charged with stealing $137,000 in MA at ATMs owned by Bank of America and Citizens Bank. Skimming devices were used in addition to concealed cameras which recorded the PIN numbers. Ivaylo Hristov, 28, and Anton Venkov, 40, both Bulgarian nationals who resided in Toronto. and Vladislav Vladev, 36, of Sofiya, Bulgaria were each charged Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-85291396807593528632010-01-10T08:27:00.001-08:002010-01-10T08:27:52.157-08:00There is more than one way to steal credit card informationHundreds of Anchorage residents may have been victims of credit card theft, a breach of sorts. Police have tracked the point of entry to a family owned restaurant, Little Italy. The Point of Sale machines were actually hacked so that instead of trying to intercept the encrypted credit and debit card data, they received it as the cards Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-41333227520835622342010-01-08T10:09:00.000-08:002010-01-08T10:16:11.664-08:00Stealing a GPS device is a crime. So is robbing a bank.I was reading the Chicago Tribune and saw this hi-teck, bank security story I thought our BOL readers would be interested in.The TCF Bank in Calumet City, IL was recently robbed. Timothy Rucker, Phillip Griffen, and Brandon Barnes met at Rucker's parents house to plan the robbery. Two of the men, wearing masks, entered the bank. One held a Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-79319041294292441482009-12-24T05:07:00.000-08:002009-12-24T05:08:39.868-08:00Ho Ho Hold UpTis not the season for Santa to be naughty. But in Nashville, TN, a man dressed as Santa robbed a Sun-Trust branch. Santa had his red sack with him as he went in the bank. He pulled a handgun out of the sack and told everyone not to move. He then told a teller to fill the sack with money because he had to pay for his elves. It doesn’t seem that a “no hat” policy would have worked Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-16848324023344285722009-12-17T10:09:00.000-08:002009-12-17T10:14:59.662-08:00Can't un-do the CrimeIn an unusual twist of events, the PNC Bank in West Newton, PA received an envelope with money. This wasn't so much a deposit as was a return of money stolen. This bank had been robbed earlier in the month. The FBI suspects it was either the repentant robber or an acquaintance of his who packaged up about 80 percent of the "undisclosed sum" and sent it back. (Tis better to Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-30697267894580800212009-12-01T13:32:00.000-08:002009-12-01T13:37:47.931-08:00Text Message - Read it to say "We want to rob you"Do thieves use technology to rob your customers? If it works, you bet they do. Bankers must remind customers to be ever vigilant. It is one thing to know that an email is a spam and a scam when you don't do business with the sender, but when you get a text message from your bank that says there is a problem, it is not as easy to discount. In NampaAndyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-2661936075651414692009-11-01T12:32:00.000-08:002009-11-01T12:33:44.704-08:00Are you securing what thieves want to steal?FirstMerit Bank has branches in Elyria, Streetsboro, and Westlake, Ohio. Each of these has suffered from a theft recently, but not of cash, but trash. Banks commonly have large bins that hold "trash" which contains confidential customer information. This trash is locked in the bins until it can be shredded. These bins weigh 500 pounds each but were Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-81016516462086542102009-09-15T12:52:00.000-07:002009-09-15T12:56:29.374-07:00Amber Alerts for Bank RobbersThe post office has pictures of the "10 Most Wanted" and you may receive security alerts that have information from regulatory agencies and industry companies of people wanted for bad checks and the like. BOL even has many of these on our Alerts and Counterfeits page, and you can subscribe to receive notices from BOL CrimeDex and access their database. Recently, the Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-18292848390473366102009-09-15T12:50:00.000-07:002009-09-15T12:52:10.263-07:00Security and the ADADoes your bank employ the use of thumbprints from non-customers to deter fraudulent check cashing? Many banks do and there have been great success stories of lowered losses as a result of such a program. But here is one story that doesn't ring of success. While I am all for policies and procedures being followed, there is always room for common sense to avoid public relations Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-59945634232292449582009-08-28T15:18:00.000-07:002009-08-28T15:22:25.725-07:00What is in your wallet?I saw on an episode of NCIS, Abby commented that most U.S. $20 currency has traces of cocaine on them. When one is used as a tube to snort the stuff, it then comes in contact with other bills, gets into an ATM and leaves trace amounts on other bills and on the roller wheels and other parts of the ATM, contaminating other bills it didn't actually come in contact with. But Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-15216276334915508132009-07-29T19:30:00.001-07:002009-07-29T19:30:49.454-07:00Limping BanditCecil Stephen Haire, 51, of Douglas, Ga., has had a limp since he was a child with polio. Many handicapped people seem almost invisible because so many people want to look the other way or not stare. That was in Haire's favor until recently.Haire would enter a bank and even wait in line for a teller. He would then show a gun and demand money. He would also threaten to shoot them if Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-6894492696801605202009-06-17T09:57:00.000-07:002009-06-17T09:58:54.172-07:00In 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. HenryAndyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-91542498651862697942009-06-10T12:05:00.000-07:002009-06-10T12:12:18.970-07:00Let's see, 1 + 1 = DumbJoseph 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 Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-18896879532560940272009-06-05T10:15:00.000-07:002009-06-05T10:16:42.672-07:00P Poor Prior PlanningIn 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 Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-7185745082971666712009-06-03T09:03:00.000-07:002009-06-03T09:15:47.049-07:00Quality Family TimeThey 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 Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-20279975441983831542009-05-28T15:15:00.000-07:002009-05-28T15:39:28.801-07:00New Types of Credit FraudInvestigators are finding that credit fraud is happening in some new ways. In Sacramento, CA one man was found to have "created" unused Social Security numbers. For people who had poor credit, he would sell them one of these numbers and associates at a furniture dealer would create credit histories for them so they could now obtain new loans. In related news, people who Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-41614993525711518702009-05-13T10:15:00.000-07:002009-05-13T10:19:36.473-07:00Social Engineering Provides High-level AccessWhile this happened in the UK, the question we need to ask ourselves is, "could this happen in my bank?"A security consultant at Siemens Enterprise Communications, Colin Greenless, used his social skills to not only enter a financial services firm that is listed on the Financial Times and Stock Exchange, but set up office. Being traded on an exchange, Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-974770568732100342009-05-12T09:46:00.000-07:002009-05-12T09:50:52.504-07:00Clear the Building before Security LeavesIn Missouri City, Texas, a robbery attempt was made at a Compass Bank branch on Tuesday, April 14. The robber concealed himself in the Men's room until 6:15, well after closing time. Only two female employees were left in the branch. While the teller drawers hadn't yet been secured, the thief demanded they open the safe. They said they could not as anotherAndyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-73295272995377027812009-05-12T09:16:00.000-07:002009-05-12T09:20:50.714-07:00Dual ControlsXu Chaofan was sentenced to to 25 years in prison. Xu Guojun was sentenced to 22 years. They were convicted of racketeering, money laundering and visa fraud. Their wives were charged with passport fraud and with helping their husbands launder money. Their wives were sentenced to eight-year prison terms.It started as far back as 1991. Xu Chaofan became vice president of a branch of Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-53908522149607882432009-04-29T16:03:00.000-07:002009-04-29T16:05:33.784-07:00Is your bank inviting robberies?I was reading an online article recently that indicated some banks have changed the typical floorplan of a branch. Now they have comfortable chairs and meeting areas with a selection of coffees, teas, magazines and toys for the kids to play with. This doesn't sound too bad. But the article noted that while this may be "customer-centric," some believe the departure Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-85327862827898979632009-03-27T11:32:00.000-07:002009-03-27T11:33:33.892-07:00Robbery Training Pays OffProvident Bank was the victim of a robbery recently. Their branch was inside a Super Fresh (grocery store) in Nottingham, MD. The employees were so fast at calling in the robbery with a description of the robber and his vehicle, that police made an arrest within five minutes. Ask yourself, at the five minute mark, would your tellers still be assembling information and Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-38161946475981474292009-02-27T15:21:00.000-08:002009-02-27T15:58:41.929-08:00FTC Reports on Most Common Complaints
The Federal Trade Commission has recently published their annual Consumer Sentinel Network report for 2008.
During 2008, the FTC received more than 1.2 million complaints. While 52 percent combined as fraud related, the single largest category of complaints were on identity theft (26%). The next largest area of complaints were on debt collector scams (9%).Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6302246.post-59590432527241012912009-01-28T08:21:00.000-08:002009-01-28T08:48:29.051-08:00ID Theft Settlement - $20 MillionA data analyst from the Department of Veterans Affairs took home a laptop and an external hard drive without permission. The external drive had names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of more than 26 million veterans. It was stolen in a burglary. It took the VA three weeks to notify the veterans that may be ID theft victims as a result of this theft.Five Andyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13811266155500285275noreply@blogger.com0