Physical ATM attacks come in four different flavors: rip-out attacks, pull-out attacks, in-situ attacks with tools and explosive attacks. Only one out of three attempts is successful, yet all of them leave a trail of destruction.
The days of Bonnie and Clyde style bank heists are no longer in vogue. In their place, brute force attacks on ATM machines are making the news on an almost daily basis.
Only one in three ATM physical attacks are successful, according to a recent report by Europol and the European Crime Prevention Network, yet even the unsuccessful ones leave a wake of destruction in their path and create an unsafe, and terrifying environment for locals.
The European Association for Secure Transactions, a non-profit organization that tracks the EU financial sector, describes four main types of physical attacks.
In a rip-out attack, crooks use a backhoe or a forklift to break down a wall and scoop out the ATM like the insides of a ripe watermelon. After the attack, the ATM may be hauled elsewhere, where the thieves can figure out at their leisure how to break open the safe inside the ATM.
In Northern Ireland, an outfit dubbed "the hole in the wall gang" was responsible for a recent spate of digger attacks. The attacks involved gang members stealing nearby digging equipment in the wee hours and using those to knock down building walls, grab the ATM, load it in the back of a truck — or a van with its roof cut off — and drive off into the sunrise.
This is the moment a cash machine was ripped from a petrol station wall by a digger stolen from down the road. The ATM's then loaded onto a Citroen Berlingo van which had its roof cut off. It's the eighth machine stolen in Londonderry this year. (This footage is double-time) pic.twitter.com/tn8xXZdTge
— Amanda Nunn (@AmandaNunnC5) April 8, 2019
In this genre of attack, thieves wrap a chain or rope around their bounty and attach the other end to a powerful towing vehicle. The vehicle then drives off, pulling the ATM along with it. The ATM is often loaded into the truck or another vehicle and then hauled away.
In September 2018, thieves in Portland used a truck and a chain to yank an ATM out of a convenience store, but their plans were foiled when they crashed into a metro bus while fleeing.
Officers on scene of a theft of an ATM, Plaid Pantry 5146 SE Holgate Blvd @ 4:18am. Suspects yanked it out of here with a big pickup and chain which then crashed into TriMet Bus (non injury) while fleeing. Pickup was recovered unoccupied SE Cora/42. Pls check video surveillance. pic.twitter.com/rXFOxgDTS4
— PPB East Precinct (@ppbeast) September 10, 2018
When there's no backhoe nearby to steal, a fall-back option is a grinder or thermal lance. In this scenario, criminals cut open the ATM and access the safe to remove the cash. A year ago, thieves used an angle grinder to try to open an ATM in Houston, but they apparently didn't have the right tools as they gave up and abandoned the effort. The pros know that thermal tools often work better at cutting thick metal parts.
Plofkraak is the Dutch word for breaking in by blowing up. Starting last year, there was a wave of pofkraakattacks in Brazil where criminals were using explosives to detonate ATMs. Here's how it works: pour the right amount of flammable gas through an opening in the ATM, like the card slot or the money drawer, and ignite it with a time delay or a remote method. Once the safe has been gutted, the thief grabs the cash, or what's left of it.
Amy Castor has more than 20 years of experience in journalism and mass communications. In the last several years, she has gotten particularly interested cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies and other evolving forms of payment. Her work has appeared in consumer and trade publications throughout the U.S., including CoinDesk, Forbes, and Bitcoin Magazine. She is now the editor of ATMmarketplace.com and WorldofMoney.com
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