How To Rob A Credit Union: The 5 Best Ways
There are dumb ways and smart ways to steal from credit unions.
The dumb way is what most credit unions spend most of their time thinking about preventing, that is, the old-fashioned Bonnie and Clyde stick up, with guns a-waving, maybe a shot in the ceiling for punctuation.
The latest FBI bank crime statistical report – covering 2011 – shows there were 5,014 bank and credit union robberies. Loot was taken in 4,534 cases, meaning that in 11% of cases the perpetrator walked out the door empty handed.
Total amount taken was $38 million, of which $8 million was recovered.
Of the total cases, 398 were credit union robberies.
Clearance rates – arrests – vary by region but in New York City the most recently reported number is about 40%, meaning there is a four in 10 chance of going to jail, typically for several years. Cross country, bank robbery usually has one of the highest clearance rates, in part because of all the photographic evidence of the robbery.
Now for the big question: what’s the take for the criminals? About $7,500 per heist. Granted, it’s for a few minutes work but, typically, it will be split several ways – and remember the downside risk of spending a few years in a federal prison.
U.S. News & World Report quotes researchers, saying: “Robbing banks is no longer what you would call a crime of choice.”
That’s because there are lots smarter ways to take money from financial institutions. They don’t involve guns. And rarely result in jail time.
Here’s a look:
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