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Home • Seeking Victim Information in ATM Burglary Investigation

Seeking Victim Information in ATM Burglary Investigation

Seeking Victim Information in ATM Burglary Investigation

The FBI's Sacramento Field Office is investigating a sophisticated South American theft group composed of subjects from Chile, Peru, and Venezuela, responsible for a series of bank robberies across multiple states. The organization is believed to be responsible for at least 29 incidents in California, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, and elsewhere across the United States.

The group employs complex techniques that begin with conducting surveillance of target locations a day in advance, often deliberately triggering security systems to evaluate law enforcement and security response times. During the burglaries, they maintain active surveillance around the location to watch for any law enforcement response. They typically access ATM rooms by cutting through walls from connecting unoccupied businesses or through ceilings.

Their sophisticated approach includes several distinct tactics. The team disguises themselves as construction workers, wearing green/yellow or orange reflective vests, hard hats or baseball caps, gloves, and face coverings. Upon entry, they immediately destroy alarm systems and electrical panels, disable security cameras with coverings and spray paint, and employ cell/signal jammers to disrupt communication systems. They use blowtorches to defeat ATM safes and have been known to use borescopes to view inside ATM rooms before entry.

The group takes extensive measures to conceal their activity, including placing paper with duct tape on the inside windows of vacant businesses, replacing original lock boxes with new ones to maintain appearances of normality, and even cutting internet cables to entire strip malls. These suspects can spend several hours executing their thefts, typically operating during night hours.

The FBI seeks contact from anyone with relevant information about these crimes. Of particular interest are:

  • Financial institutions that have experienced ATM thefts matching this pattern
  • Businesses or individuals who have witnessed suspicious activity around ATMs, particularly during overnight hours
  • Anyone with security footage or photographs of individuals matching this description near banking facilities
  • Persons with knowledge about the planning or execution of these crimes

If you and/or your minor dependent(s), your business, or someone you know has been victimized or has information about these crimes, please complete this confidential victim identification form.

We strongly encourage anyone with relevant information, no matter how minor it may seem, to come forward. Your cooperation could help prevent future crimes and bring these perpetrators to justice.

The FBI is legally mandated to identify victims of federal crimes it investigates. Victims may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal and/or state law. Your responses are voluntary but may be useful in the federal investigation and to identify you as a potential victim. Based on the responses provided, you may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information. All identities of victims will be kept confidential.

Additional Resources


Contact Information

Questionnaire

2. Did your institution’s ATM get burglarized?


3. Was this at a bank branch or a kiosk location?



4. Was local law enforcement contacted?


5. Were the subjects wearing disguises or masks?


6. Were there damages to the physical property or building?


7. Were there damages to the ATM machine?


8. Were there damages to the security surveillance equipment or network?


9. Do you have any security footage from the incident?


10. Were there any tools or evidence left behind from the incident?


11. If this was a bank branch, did the subjects enter through a common wall with a neighboring business?


12. Were there attempts to enter the bank vault?


Privacy Act Statement

The FBI is authorized to collect the information on this form by one or more of the following provisions: Title 28, United States Code, sections 533 and 534; Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, section 0.85; and the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. The information requested will assist the FBI in providing you with assistance to which crime victims are entitled under federal law. You do not have to provide the requested information; however, failure to do so may hinder the FBI in providing you with crime victim assistance. The information collected on this form is protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, Title 5, United States Code section 552a, and is maintained in the FBI’s Central Records System, DOJ/FBI-002, a description of which was published in the Federal Register at 63 Fed. Reg. 8671 (Feb. 20, 1998) and which may be viewed at www.justice.gov/opcl/doj-systems-records#doj