Spike in “Chain Gang” Destructive Attacks on ATMs
Summary: The Texas Bankers Association documented at least 139 "chain gang" attacks on Texas financial institutions in the year ending November 2020, in which teams use stolen trucks and heavy chains to rip ATMs from their foundations and take the cash boxes inside. Travelers reported a 257 percent increase in ATM smash-and-grab insurance claims in the year ending June 2021, with attacks recorded in 32 states, and Houston-based FBI officials have made more than 50 arrests while tracking about 250 suspected individuals.
What you should know: Cash losses from these attacks can exceed $200,000, and replacing a destroyed ATM and its housing can take weeks at a cost of $80,000 or more per newer model. With the FBI treating the thefts as cash theft rather than bank robbery, most incidents fall to local investigators as property crimes.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
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