By John Leyden for The Register
This article has been reproduced with permission
The ruse is helping street thieves in the Walmer district of
Port Elizabeth to target well-heeled victims, according to police
spokesman Captain Verna Brink. "This way the person is not actually
followed out of the bank, and there is very little suspicion
aroused," Brink said, the Herald reports.
Among the victims of the suspected theft tactic was former SA
hockey coach Brian Hibbert, who was attacked and robbed of R12,000
($1,760) by armed men brandishing a knife and gun. Hibbert was left
with three stab wounds in his right hand after he was overpowered
by violent thieves last week shortly after taking a bag containing
recently-withdrawn money from his car boot. The attack happened
some distance away from the bank where he made the withdrawal. An
unnamed female victim was also robbed in a second incident in the
same area. Both cases remain unsolved.
Local police are urging banks to prohibit the use of camera
phones on their premises. Theft of a different sort – fears
over the use of camera phones to help low-level fraudsters to get a
clean getaway or to help blaggers to case premises in preparation
for armed robberies – has prompted a number of US banks to
prohibit the use of mobiles on their premises.
First National Bank branches in Chicago has joined with banks in
Citizens Bank of Northern California and Indianan-based Citizens
Financial Bank in banning the technology. The phenomenon is not
confined to the US. Banks in Mexico City began banning mobiles in
May as part of attempts to foil armed robberies, the Chicago
Tribune
reports.
The Illinois Bankers' Association encourages its members to
prohibit hats, hoods and sunglasses – which might be used by
miscreants to avoid their picture being captured by security
cameras – in an effort to cut down on robberies.
Opinions are split on the feasibility on enforcing a mobile
phone ban in bank lobbies, the Chicago Tribune reports.
FBI agent Thomas Weber said the use of mobiles in the commission of
bank robberies is uncommon but he encourages banks to implement any
reasonable security precautions they deem necessary.
© The Register 2006
