Photo: Pommes Fritz 123
€1 million swiped from ATMs using bent forks
Published: 16 Aug 2012 12:01 GMT+02:00 | Print version
Updated: 16 Aug 2012 12:01 GMT+02:00
French police are looking for a gang of thieves after it was revealed that €1 million in cash has been stolen from ATMs across France using a novel technique.
Over the past few weeks, over several transactions, the thieves have managed to take €1 million by using a bent fork to jam open the cash distributor.
One source explained to local paper Le Parisien how they did it: “CCTV footage allowed us to figure out exactly what they were doing.
“After making one transaction with their bank cards they insert a small fork with the teeth bent back into the cash distributor.”
Then they make a second, much bigger withdrawal, which they cancel before the transaction is made. By then the cash is prepared in the distributor, which they pull out with the help of the fork.
Four arrests were made in connection to the theft in Le Havre at the beginning of this week. Police are looking for about 10 more gang members, all thought to originate from Romania.
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