ATMs & Kiosks

Drone steals nearly $150K from an ATM

Image via Istock.com

October 10, 2022

French police arrested two men who allegedly used an unorthodox method to steal from an ATM: a drone. The drone was able to enter the air vent of a Caisse d'Epargne bank and open the door for the men, who then used a code to open the ATM's cash box and steal $147,000, according to a report by Drone DJ

Police were confused when they first surveyed the scene of the crime as there was no sign of damage to either the locked front entrance or the ATM, until they noticed that the air vent to the room appeared to be damaged. When police checked CCTV footage from the ATM, they saw the DJI Mini drone, which pushed a button to open the door for the men.

"To locate the push button, the perpetrators used a telescopic pole equipped with a mirror," an anonymous source told French news outlet Le Journal De Dimanche. "This is the first time that we have witnessed such use of a drone to rob a bank ATM."

One of the men had previously worked as a mechanic for a company that services the ATMs. In addition, investigators learned that the codes to the cash box were not changed often.