Investigators were shocked by the simplicity and ingenuity of the countrywide rash of ATM heists: The gang managed to make the thefts by jamming a fork into the machines’ cash dispensers, exploiting a previously unknown security flaw.
The mass robberies were discovered when dozens of fake ATM withdrawals, mainly from Caisse d’Epargne machines, were caught on camera.
“After making one transaction with their bank cards they insert a small fork with the teeth bent back into the cash distributor,” police said to Le Parisien. “Then the thieves attempt a much bigger second withdrawal, which they cancel before the transaction is finish. By then the cash is prepared in the distributor, which they pull out with the help of the fork.”
