Banks Scammed by Bogus Couriers
John S. Burnett, Associate Editor
Armored car couriers get time off like anyone else. So when an unfamiliar face shows up to pick up a bank's cash shipment, it should be no big deal, right?
Two Washington, DC area banks consider it a very big deal, after being duped by cash courier impersonators.
Employees at a BB&T office in Wheaton, Maryland, handed over more than $500,000 in cash to someone dressed as an AT Systems courier last month. The scam went undetected until the following day, when genuine AT Systems employees arrived.
Less than 24 hours after the Wheaton incident, another courier imposter -- this time dressed as a Brink's employee -- told Wachovia tellers in Washington that he was filling in for their regular courier, and made off with more than $350,000, undetected until the actual Brink's courier was turned away empty-handed later in the day. Police weren't notified of the robbery for almost 11 hours after the imposter left the bank.
Six people -- David Mbom, Phillippe Ngassa, Robert Tataw, Ernest Yossa, Elizabeth Tarke and Edmond Machie -- were arrested for the Wheaton robbery within three days. Tarke was an employee at the Wheaton bank. Most of the money from that robbery was recovered. Police reported that Mbom had a security guard's uniform he had purchased. Latest news reports indicate that federal, state and D.C. police believe the group is also responsible for the Wachovia heist, which ironically occurred across the street from the FBI's J. Edgar Hoover Building.
The scheme that's described above relied on "social engineering" techniques. Bank employees -- with the possible exception of BB&T's Ms. Tarke -- were apparently convinced there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. Contact your armored courier service to discuss security procedures its couriers -- and your bank -- should use when "regulars" will not be dispatched on their runs.
First published on BankersOnline.com 02/15/2008
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