Ink database to help forensic investigators identify ATM robbers
The Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) has set up an ink database with ink traces from ATM robberies to help identify the robbers. One of the measures banks take against ATM robberies is adding ink to cash cassettes. When criminals blow up an ATM, the ink ends up on at least some of the cash, making it unusable. It also ends up on robbers’ hands and clothes, NOS reports.
Every one of the colored, inedible ink cartridges has unique characteristics. By examining the microscopic particles, the NFI can determine which ATM the ink came from. If the police find money or a jacket with ink residue, the NFI can, therefore, determine that a suspect was likely involved in a certain ATM bombing.
“It also happens regularly that we find suspects on the run with ink on their hands or in the car,’ Jos van der Stap, an ATM robbery specialist at the police, told the broadcaster. “The ink investigation can then prove that they were at the scene of the crime.”
The new NFI database contains ink data from ATMs in the Netherlands and Germany. Two years ago, the NFI only conducted four ink investigations. This year, there have already been 70. The increase is mainly due to many ATM robberies in Germany, mainly committed by Dutch criminals. They started striking across the border since banks in the Netherlands removed and better secured their remaining ATMs.
Banks in Germany have also started improving security around their banks and the police are seeing ATM bombers move further into Europe. The police suspect Dutch links to ATM explosions in Switzerland, Austria, France, and the Czech Republic. The NFI would, therefore, like to expand its database with data from other European countries.
