BankersOnline Security Spotlight

Many banks want the outside world to see inside the institution to avoid bank robbery attempts.They try to maintain a policy that window blinds and curtains remain open.Yet the sun won?t cooperate causing people to be unable to read computer screens.One solution to this problem is obtaining perforated blinds, which can screen most angles of the sun allowing visibility inside the building.While not 100% effective in all situations, they can perform admirably most of the time. These blinds are designed with different hole sizes, so you will need one that is large enough to give an unobstructed view.The best way to do this is to test a blind before buying them for your entire office.

Welcome to the February Issue of Security Spotlight
Reward offered for BofA robbers and a credit union shuts down because of repeated robberies. Counterfeiting is down - what? Robbery has become an avocation and the creativity will astound you! Read about all this in Security Shorts. Check out the new program from CrimeDex. You'll read all about these and other security news in this month's issue.

Reward Offered!
Bank of America is offering a $50,000 reward for the "20 Questions Bandits". The gang's nickname come from the fact that they ask several questions during the heists. It is believed that the four suspects are responsible for at least six bank robberies in Southern California. The first robbery occurred on March 3, 2009 at a US Bank in Thousand Oaks, CA, and the latest was on January 21, 2010at a BofA in Westminister, CA. According to the FBI, these robbers are violent and armed with guns. They have assaulted employees and in some cases have even robbed customers of their personal belongings. They are described as four black males in their mid-thirties, around six feet tall and all about 200 pounds.

"We've just had it!" - CU Closes Permanently
The A-K Valley Federal Credit Union in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood has closed permanently. This branch opened in 2004 and after five robberies in five years the board decided to close it. "We?ve just had it", said CEO and President Janet Horn. Assault rifles were used in four of the robberies prompting one employee to quit. According to Horn: "After the fourth robbery, he couldn't handle it any more. He said he couldn't look down the barrel of a gun any more, so he quit." The last robbery occurred on January 1. A burglar broke into the credit union, managing to steal a set of keys. He rummaged through some filing cabinets but did not access any personal files which were in a locked cabinet.

Be sure to check our Bank Robbery page for photos and information on all the latest robbery suspects. Protect your institution by posting signage prohibiting hats, hoods and sunglasses. The effectiveness of this simple sign on your door is unsurpassed. Available now in two different designs in static cling format in the Banker Store.



Bank Robbing as a Second Calling...?

Not Something to Teach the Kids -Some robbers have double lives and robbing banks is a part-time job. Such was the case for Gail Rasmussen, a 49 year old seventh grade English teacher from Brookline, N.H. She would call in sick and then go rob banks. She was cordial as she would approach a teller and deliver a note written on a white envelope, neatly folded into thirds, "Please give me $2,000 all large bills, no dye pack."

Rasmussen obscured her face with a multi-colored scarf in each of her three robberies in Connecticut and Massachusetts. At her last robbery in Concord, the teller gave her bait money. The bank manager saw Rasmussen get away in a gray Honda. The scarf and car, plus the surveillance video, led police to her arrest. In their investigation, police said that within twenty minutes of one of the robberies, Rasmussen was seen at the Mohegan Sun Casino. She will undergo evaluation by Gamblers' Anonymous.

If you don't think seventh grade English teachers generally fit the profile of a bank robber, consider this. In 2008, almost 18,000 males under the age of eighteen were arrested for robbery of one type or another, nationally. This is from the FBI crime statistics. About 1,900 females were arrested for similar crimes, which was an increase of 38 percent from 1999 statistics.

The Junior Division -In Symmes Township, OH, police are searching for two bank robbery suspects who are described as being female, 14 to 16 years old, and 12 to 14 years old. These two young girls walked up to a teller and provided a robbery note demanding money. There was no reference to either having a weapon. They left with a bag of cash, on foot. They managed to elude police dogs and a helicopter that was searching for them. They were given bait money in their bag.

Police on the Look-out? No, Look Out for the Police! -Still far away from the typical profile of a bank robber is Timothy Edward Carson, 28. He is accused of robbing a Wells Fargo bank branch in St. Paul, MN. He also admitted to other armed robberies in the area. Carson is a Minneapolis police SWAT team member. While there was no motive established, it was mentioned that Carson had a high amount of debt.

Getting Another Kind of Fame -A more recognizable person in the news is Rip Torn. You may remember the goatee and deep voiced boss from Men in Black...that is Rip Torn. The 78 year old actor broke into a Connecticut bank, intoxicated, carrying a loaded handgun. He is charged with burglary and possession of a firearm without a permit. He is being held on $100,000 bond.

One thing that does become apparent, is that the reasons for a crime may be more predictable than the profile of the person committing the crime.Alerts & Counterfeits
In January, FinCEN released a new edition (No. 13) of a report, "The SAR Activity Review - By the Numbers".This report shows SAR filings are up for check fraud cases which include traveler's checks and counterfeit checks. These were up significantly for all industries that are reporting SARs. Banks are seeing a 19 percent increase in 2009 over the prior year's same period for check fraud, and a 36 percent increase in counterfeit items. Money service businesses report a 76 percent increase in fraud activity, especially in traveler's checks.

Also in January, we tracked regulatory reports of counterfeit items on the BOL Alerts & Counterfeits page. There were only thirteen reported items for the month. Twelve of the reports were from the FDIC and the other came from the OCC. There was only one fraudulent money order, two counterfeit official checks and ten counterfeit cashier's checks.

The counterfeits reported often appeared to have false security features suggesting they were official and legitimate, which can give tellers a false sense of security. However, with a sharp eye and the information from the fraud alerts, a teller would know that the Bank of Granite issues official checks rather than cashier's checks; that counterfeit cashier's checks on Old Cypress Community Bank carried an incorrect address; and that valid cashier's checks from ProBank in Tallahassee, Florida omit the apostrophe from "cashier's."

Are you likely to catch all the fraudulent items that come into your bank? Probably not, because criminals are often able to make very real-looking counterfeit checks. Until they are reported, you may not be able to identify them as fraudulent, but once fraud reports have been published, your staff should have a watch list. We watch for regulators', and include them in the daily Compliance Briefing and on the BOL Alerts & Counterfeits page, which is easily searched. Because we combine reports from the regulators, you only need to look in one place for the information.

CrimeDex Alerts – A Treasure Trove of Teachable Moments
It can be a real challenge to make security training relevant. Having actual recent reports to illustrate your lessons can be invaluable. January's collection of CrimeDex alerts provides a variety of cases that are relevant teaching tools.

A report from Long Beach, CA proves that new technology hasn't eliminated basic scams from the criminal repertoire. It describes two examples of the classic bank examiner con upon elderly bank customers whose accounts were drained. Would your tellers recognize the symptoms of such a scam? In another alert, Wells Fargo Bank reports attempts to take over business accounts using social engineering techniques. Reports such as the Wells Fargo alert should be reviewed when updating your bank's ID Theft Red Flags program, and can provide good examples for training customer contact personnel about business account takeovers. A personal ID theft was foiled by alert Bank of the West employees who detected a counterfeit driver's license and a forged withdrawal order on a valid customer account, and were able to contact their actual customer to verify that she was miles away from the bank.

Can your tellers recognize bogus IDs? Give them the tools to do the job right! It's time to order the 2010 edition of the I.D. Checking Guide, with coverage of all U.S. and Canadian state and provincial driver's licenses and non-driver ID cards, plus immigration and other ID documents. Place your order NOW for this indispensible frontline anti-fraud tool!

NEW! CrimeCatcher Service from CrimeDex!
Are you a BOL CrimeDex member? The CrimeDex service is more valuable than ever! Now, when you and other CrimeDex members upload facial images as part of CrimeDex alerts, CrimeCatcher, a free facial recognition program, will go to work to compare the new images with others already in the CrimeDex system. You'll hear about any potential matches, to help you and law enforcement link related crimes and increase the odds of identification and arrests. Just log into CrimeDex and click on the Support link for details of this valuable new service.

Of interest to our security professionals is a peek at a GPS device concealed in the bait money given to a robber. This is in a story about three robbers who were caught quickly because this device allowed them to be tracked. As we posted this blog entry, some responses were that we should be hesitant to show such a device, but we'll point out that the story and images were first in the Chicago Tribune.

We also have a story on card skimming in Anchorage. This wasn't at an ATM or gas station and the criminals were not shoulder surfing or using a camera to get PIN numbers. This was more sophisticated than that. You can read more about both the GPS tracking device and the card skimming crooks in our Security Blog.

Interested in crimes against banks? Read about the telephone calls some Georgia residents were getting right after Christmas about their ATM cards. Between customers and bankers being on vacation at this time of year, and busy with the holidays, criminals knew the timing was good for them.

We also have information on professional and executive level customers falling for scams. In particular, these two variations prey on legal firms who your tellers may not question when international wires are actually unusual for them. After all, these are attorneys, right? Attorneys can be scammed too! Read about the holiday phone scam and the attack on law firms in our Anti-Phishing Blog.

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