BANK THIEVES AT WORK.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3080, 26 May 1914, Page 2

BANK THIEVES AT WORK.

SOME INGENIOUS DODGES

Bank thieves are nothing if not cute and confident. This was seen the other day wnen two foreign-looking well-dress-ed men entered a Glasgow Lank and respectfully inquired if they could bo accommodated with gold for American money, some 200 dols. Certainly, replied the attendant, and at once proceeded to count out gold to the rcqj'rei .-.mourn, 'ihiis was just done when the men declared they had changed their minds, and at once withdrew their on'iirs from 'the counter —with seven sovereigns as well. Before the attendant had quite realize!" the dodge the sharpers were outside and off! They are still at large. Three or four weeks ago a Dundee clerk was relieved of £SO by a smart dodge. Ho had obtained the money at the National Bank in exchange for * cheque, and on his way to the office he ua> overtaken by a breathless and bareheaded man who. feigning that he was a bank clerk, and that there was something wrong with the cheque, induced tho messenger to hand over the monej. He gave him a blue envelope in exchange, which, when opened, contained a blank sheet of paper.

"THANKS AWFULLY." For cool audacity this was almovt on - par with the case where a bag contain, ing 700 sovereigns was filched from a bank porter. The latter was carrying the money from tho cashier's department to a customer, who was waiting in ;. cab outside. On bis way he encountered a "gentleman," who, with a suavo "Thank.-, awfully." quietly annexed the precious package. It. was not until the ••ustomer. weary of waiting, came raging in to find out the reason of the delay that the robbery was discovered, and by that time, of course, the perpetrator had got clean away.

Bank thieves are not, as might unthinkingly be supposed, evil-looking ruffians of pugilistic appearance. On,the contrary, they are invariably well- dressed, well-educated, and able to speak intelligently of financial and banking matters. These attributes »ue indeed part of their stock-in-trade, and without them they would not make much progress in the art of bank robbing. Generally speaking, these smart, wellgroomed, alert-looking "gentlemen'' always work in "mobs"gangs of three or lour. Such a "mob"' comprises the "sneak," who does the actual thieving, and the ''stalls," or men who cover his operations. They have numerous subtlo dodges at- their iinged-tips, but the clever, though simple, method known as tho ''turn trick*' is generally reckoned good uaough for the 'cute business man, who flatters himself Fhat he is much too "wide" to be thus easily taken in.

THE "TURN TRICK." Tho "turn-trick" consists in making a man turn away trom his money tor .1 sufficient length of time —three seconds —to allow tho "sneak" possessing himself of it. Tho modus operandi is simplicity itself. Mr. Smith, a wealthy merchant, requiring for special ourpoaes a large sum of monloy, presents a cheque say. for a thousand pounds. He receives livo and ten pound notes in paynuim For tho purpose of checking them, tho bank being busy, Mr. Smith withdraws to ono of the specially provided desks near by, and proceeds to count his bank notes.

Tho whole transaction uas been carefully nsted by the thieves, and they aionce proceed to operate. The "sneak" places himself quietly behind Mr. Smith m such a position that ho is quite unnoticed by tho intended victim. A "suitf" now appears, and drops a five-pound note upon tho tloor some three or four feet in the rear of Mr. Smith. Touching the latter upon the shoulder, the welldressed confederate politely says—"l think this note is yours, sir,'' and walks away.

Instinctively Mr. Smith wheels round, and seeing the note upon the floor with no other apparent claimant, not unnaturally thinks ho must hare dropped it. and stoops to pick it up. As he does so, tho "sneak." watchful as a cat tho whole time, steps forward, and whilo Mr Smith is stooping he "lifts" about half of the pile of notes 5 and at once moves briskly out of the place.

* That deliberate leaving of half of the notes behind is masterly. If the thief takes the lot the alarm is at once given, the bank doors closed, and general inquiries made. As it is, before Mr. Smith lias discovered tho extent of his loss the thief has vanished. A PALTRY £6OOO. It was a gang of this type who wen* responsible for the Sunderland Bank robbery a few years ago. The 6cheme was adroitly planned and cleverly carried out. Hailing from London, the gang took up their abodes in Sunderland som« months prior to the day chosen for the coup. They put up at expensive hotels, and frequented "swell" bars. Among their friends and acquaintances they soon numbered the son of the manager of the North-Eastern Bank. With him a confederate one day played' billiards. A huge fire had been built in the room. The young man removed his coat, and another confederate took advantage of this to abstract from the pocket the keys of the bank. Five minutes later they were replaced, but meanwhile an impression had been taken in wax. So far so good. They could enter the bank building at any time. But they wanted to get at the safe. So yet a third confederate persuaded the chief cashier to ''join him" in a Turkish batb. and an impression of the keys was taktm in a similar manner while their owner was sweltering in the hot room. After all this, it seems almost an anti-climax to find that the rogues got away with nu moro than a paltry £6OOO. A CURIOUS STORY.

Shortly after a recent fraud it was announced that ''additional safeguards'' had been decided upon by the bank *uthoritios. That this step was necessaty -.s illustrated by the following Authentic story.

A customer having a fairly good balance, never sinking below four figure, at a branch of a well-known bank, hurried in ono morning and asked to see cue manager. The usual civilities were exchanged, and the caller explained that he was making a rather good investment, and had promised to pay £IOOO the next.dav.

"Well," said the manager, "there's no difficulty about that." "Precisely," wa6 tho rejoinder; "but will you do me a small favour?'' What is it?" queried the manager. "I want my friend to see that my paying him £IOOO wdl not exhaust my resources. Will you, therefoie, oblige mo by instructing the pay clerks (and they wero numerous) to cash my cheque when it is presented, without referring to the ledger to see how my account stands? It wdl make a good impression on my man. and it cannot do you any harm, as you know what my balance is." It was a little over £IOOO. "Certainly, if you particularly wish it," replied th<a unsuspecting manager, for his customer's name had been long on the books, and there had never been any trouble with him. When the cheque was presented the next day at a particular desk the clerk, without going through the formality of referring to the customer's account, pleasantly inquired, " How will you take it?" and handed over the amount without more ado. In tho meantime the same little ceremony was being gone through at four other pay desks, each clerk acting upon instructions, cashing Mr 's cheque for £IOOO, making £SOOO in all, or nearly £4OOO in excess of the wily customer's balance! And, of course, when Mr. received a polite note requesting him to call at the bank, he was not to be found. THE CHEQUE DANGER. No documents lend themselves to dishonest uses more readily than cheques. The principal aim of the forger of today is towards the endorsements on cheques planned to be stolen subsequent to signature. No pains, expense, or trouble are spared by the swindlers in order to obtain a business memorandum bearing the signature of the firm ot pay-

oca. and upon a printed copy of the former the forged signature of the latter i.s sent to the drawer of the stolen cheques, vhus allaying suspicion temporarily.

Two swindlers of this type ascertained, that a gentleman was in the habit of sending two cheques for substantial amounts periodically by post. Opening i. small account at the same branch of the bank, at one of these times, the thieves contrived to obtain possession of tho cheques from the pillar-box wherein it was the gentleman's custom to post his letters.

Receipts wore sent bearing imitations of the previously obtained signatures of tho payees, and the crossed drafts bearing forged endorsements wore paid through the post into the forger's own. acount. The cheques could thus be drawn upon almost immediately and at the earliest possible moment the swindlers withdrew and cleared with the cash. Tho bank repudiated the customer's claim, but after a long action was ordered upon appeal to mak9 good his loss.