Banks in Texas and at least three nearby states are reporting a rash of thefts in which customers unwittingly make deposits into fake boxes placed over night deposit boxes.
In recent months thieves have used the fake boxes to steal cash and checks that customers thought they were depositing into the banks’ boxes, according to various municipal police departments in those states. Though it is unclear how many banks have been hit or how much money has been stolen, law enforcement officials speculate that a single team of bandits is responsible for the thefts.
Charles T. Cross, the president and chief executive officer of the $93 million-asset Bank of Eureka Springs in Arkansas, says it was one of the victims; about $5,000 was stolen at one of its branches over the first weekend in August.
Customers usually need a key to access the bank’s night deposit boxes, Mr. Cross said. However, from Saturday night until Sunday morning during that weekend, several customers made deposits into a fake box, even though it had no lock.
“Our clients who got duped said that it looked like the regular box had been under construction, and that this was just a temporary box over it,” Mr. Cross said. “The box was made to look as realistic as possible — with metal materials — and customers here really aren’t used to this sort of thing happening.”
Police detectives in other Arkansas cities, as well as in Missouri, confirmed that they are investigating similar incidents that took place this summer.
In early June more than $5,600 was stolen from customers at a Hot Springs, Ark., branch of Regions Bank, according to police officials. During the same weekend as the thefts at Bank of Eureka Springs, thieves also used a fake box to steal an undisclosed sum at a Bank of America branch in Branson, Mo., according to local officials.
Kristi Lamont Ellis, a spokeswoman for the $80 billion-asset Regions, of Birmingham, Ala., confirmed that a theft had taken place but did not elaborate. Bank of America officials did not return phone calls.
Mid-America Payment Exchange, a Kansas City, Mo., check processor, issued an alert to its customers that banks in Biloxi, Miss., and five Texas cities, including Houston, reported similar thefts.
According to police, a security video from Bank of Eureka Springs shows that two white males, in their 20s or 30s, drove up to the night deposit box in a teal green Ford Escort station wagon with a luggage rack on the roof and a yellow ball on the antenna, but no license plates. The video shows that one of the men, wearing a T-shirt draped over his head, got out of the car and covered the deposit box with a fake one.
The next morning, according to police, the same man removed the fake box, and the two drove away in the station wagon.
Mike MacLean, the bank robbery program manager for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, said crimes like this are rare — or just underreported to the FBI by local authorities.
Since technically the money is being stolen before it is deposited, the crime is not classified as a federal one, and the FBI usually does not get involved, Mr. MacLean said. However, since the crimes span several states, the FBI may help locate the suspects in this case, once local officials have identified them, he said.
In the meantime, Mr. MacLean has some advice for banks: “Tell customers that, in the event that the depository is under repair, there will never be a temporary box. Customers should instead go to the bank the next day to deposit their money with a teller.”
Banks that have night deposit boxes with locks should also remind their customers to never deposit money in something that does not have a keyhole, he said.
But Sean Barnwell, a detective for the Branson Police Department, says that advice could be easily ignored — or never passed down — to the people who actually use night deposit boxes.
“It’s often employees at businesses that have commercial accounts with the bank, and they tend to be fairly young, tired from a long night shift, and just want to get the job done and go home,” he said. “They may also feel that they would get into more trouble with their bosses if they didn’t deposit the money, and since it’s not their personal money, they may feel less protective over that deposit.”
The banks are not liable for the stolen money, because the deposits never made it into the bank, Mr. Barnwell said.
Still, Mr. Cross said Bank of Eureka Springs paid victims the amount that they said they had lost.
“We made an ethical decision to take care of our clients and make good on that money,” he said. “I think people understand that community banks take care of people, and hopefully this substantiates that.”
