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Want To Hunt Bank Robbers? There's an App For That, Says The FBI (networkworld.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the bandits-vs-bandwidth dept.

Long-time Slashdot reader coondoggie quotes an article from Network World: The FBI today said it released a new application making it easier for the public -- as well as financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and others -- to view photos and information about bank robberies in different geographic areas of the country.
The FBI's new "Bank Robbers" application runs on both Android and iOS, according to the article, "and lets users sort bank robberies by the date they occurred, the category they fall under (i.e., armed serial bank robber), the FBI field office working the case, or the state where the robbery occurred." The app ties into BankRobbers.fbi.gov, which overlays FBI information about bank robberies onto Google Maps.

The app's users "can also select push notifications to be informed when a bank robbery has taken place near their location," according to the FBI's site, which adds innocently that "If the location services on your device are enabled, you can view a map that shows the relevant bank robberies that took place in your geographic area..."

68 comments

  1. no... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No can't say that has ever crossed my mind. Kinda figured it was their job to do it.

    1. Re:no... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That, plus bank robbery is one of the crimes that I care the least about.

      You seriously want me to care about poor people taking money from rich people? Really?

      Fuck you.

    2. Re: no... by mandy2tom · · Score: 1

      Of course I tell the police where a bank robber was otherwise he might rob my house next. But why not just ask the NSA clearly most criminals are too dumb to turn the phone off and very few murders or premeditated So therefore they also have the phone on. And once they're in jail since it costs more than college anyway force them to take a 4 year "MOOK" class "college class online" "Massive open online course" on @Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    3. Re:no... by peawormsworth · · Score: 1

      I would use it to locate bank robbers so I could take them to lunch and ask them how they had the balls to carry it out. Inquiring minds want to know.

  2. FBI looking for frequent users by turkeydance · · Score: 4, Insightful

    for specific situations. some criminals like to read about themselves.

    1. Re:FBI looking for frequent users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Themselves, and about any observations the public may have made to avoid getting caught. It's the new favourite app for that more spiritually aware bank robbery.

    2. Re:FBI looking for frequent users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FBI looking for frequent users for specific situations. some criminals like to read about themselves.

      I would assume more likely to be the stupid ones as well.

      Given that traditional-style bank robbery is generally far more risky for the perpetrators than it used to be (i.e. far more likely to get caught and far less profitable in general), I'd assume that most of the people still doing it are those that haven't figured out smarter ways of robbing banks or ripping people off, i.e. the aforementioned less-intelligent robbers.

  3. Is it necessary to rob a bank anymore? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    Damn ATM is right outside...

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Is it necessary to rob a bank anymore? by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Forgot to ask,

      Do we get to shoot 'em?

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    2. Re: Is it necessary to rob a bank anymore? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shoot the bank or the ATM? Be specific dude

  4. Security Cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I read to the point where it they said photos are involved. Instantly I knew this plan would not solve anything. The major reason security cameras are totally useless, everyone knows that. Have you ever seen a security camera that took non blotchy video? Few if any security camera exists that takes clear enough video to be usable in identifying suspects.

    1. Re:Security Cameras by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      I read to the point where it they said photos are involved. Instantly I knew this plan would not solve anything. The major reason security cameras are totally useless, everyone knows that. Have you ever seen a security camera that took non blotchy video? Few if any security camera exists that takes clear enough video to be usable in identifying suspects.

      Your mistake is in assuming that 'security cameras' are meant to take usable video. They are not. They are meant to lower insurance rates and convey a false sense of security to the general public.

      None of that requires good video quality.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    2. Re:Security Cameras by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That works, right until the insurance companies start tying the rate reductions to the usability of the footage as legally admissable evidence...

    3. Re:Security Cameras by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      That used to be true but now it's not. There's plenty of 1080p digital security hardware now. If you have enough of them even crappy old cameras are useful. They show who got into a vehicle, then some witness fingers the vehicle, etc. But now it's not unusual for a really good face shot to come from someone's security cam.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Security Cameras by BlueStrat · · Score: 2

      That used to be true but now it's not. There's plenty of 1080p digital security hardware now. If you have enough of them even crappy old cameras are useful. They show who got into a vehicle, then some witness fingers the vehicle, etc. But now it's not unusual for a really good face shot to come from someone's security cam.

      You're right in that it's not as universally true as it once was particularly with newer businesses and big-box stores etc, but among older sole proprietorships and Chapter 'S' corporations which still make up the majority of businesses and employers in the US it's still true to a great extent.

      If they upgrade video security equipment it's usually because the old hardware stopped working due to age and the better stuff was what was readily available at a discount to replace it and/or the new insurance plan has stipulations regarding security systems covering minimum acceptable video quality capability (and plans and regulations vary widely from carrier to carrier and State to State, even town to town and county to county).

      It's not necessarily because they're cheap or don't care, it's more a matter of being more concerned with meeting next pay-period's payroll/taxes and similar immediate and pressing business-life/death concerns that small businesses regularly face day-in and day-out.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
  5. What I'd like to know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What I'd like to know is why are bank robberies such a regular occurrence that they can be plotted on a map? We have the technology to stop this stuff. Why don't all banks use bulletproof glass and do transactions through those little hand hole things? Blows my mind that banks are still being robbed in this day and age.

    1. Re:What I'd like to know by fafalone · · Score: 1

      That only protects the teller. Most banks are (rightfully) unwilling to put their customers and floor employees lives at risk over the $1-2k or less in a tellers drawer. A lot of robbers don't even display weapons.

  6. Criminals by Grady+Martin · · Score: 1

    I'd rather have an app to hunt the banks.

  7. do all entries point to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wall street and Washington DC?

  8. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not my job. Not my money. Not my problem. Not interesting.

    Maybe stop working so hard to bust people for pot and go look for bank robbers.
    Who might shoot back.

  9. Trust is lacking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Install an app made by the FBI? Uh, no thanks.

    1. Re:Trust is lacking by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      Especially one that says, "Oh, we need to use your GPS. But just so we can tell you where the bad people are around you! Really! We wouldn't use it for anything else..."

  10. Well, I know 1 case where they worked... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: They got a live-in carpenter of mine busted earlier this year (yes he robbed banks) http://cnycentral.com/news/loc... & it was how he was caught - on film on security cams (he was making decent monies from myself & his partners on other jobs too, guess it wasn't enough, but he was in deep shit...)

    * Damn shame too - he was a really NICE intelligent guy who taught me a LOT on doing electricals & hardwood flooring (we were restoring apartments I own) but he fell of the wagon w/ heroin & that was that... too bad - I had him lined up with a pal of mine to restore a place of his too, would've been a 2-3 grand job for maybe 2-3 weeks work.

    APK

    P.S.=> It bummed me out: I hate seeing GOOD THINGS go BAD - I really got along w/ him well (for the most part) & he NEVER ever robbed myself or others in the house either (i.e. - he didn't shit where he ate (sort of, as the saying goes))... but he did take his partner for 1,000s... apk

  11. Perfect Alibi by BlueStrat · · Score: 1, Funny

    I don't know why bank robbers and other criminals don't simply claim they were on the way to the Clinton Foundation with a bag full of foreign lobbyist's checks when they tripped and fell into a bank robbery without any intent to actually rob a bank.

    I'm sure Director Comey will understand. They may even get an Ambassadorship out of the deal from Hilly!

    Strat

    --
    Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    1. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      retard

    2. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She was careless which is not criminal. You're making something out of a nothingburger.

    3. Re: Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. It isn't like she received training like the military or an NSA contractor like Snowden. That is why she can't be charged.

    4. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read the law. One section required intent. Another section did not. Either way she is a criminal.

    5. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The section that did not require intent was not law until 2014, by which time HRC had left the cabinet. You can't be charged for an act that wasn't illegal when you committed it, ex post facto and all that.

    6. Re:Perfect Alibi by blindseer · · Score: 0

      HRC intentionally kept State e-mails on her private server. Those e-mails are "born classified". There's your intent.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    7. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not intent to distribute classified material but only to enable capabilities which were denied her and critical to job function in the information age. Snowden in contrast did so willingly, and explicitly to two selected adversarial governments, including in Russia's case recently formerly hostile to the point of risking nuclear war with the complete destruction of the only human habitable planet. I hope you're old enough to at least remember that faintly.

    8. Re:Perfect Alibi by blindseer · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      That's not intent to distribute classified material

      Irrelevant. She intentionally had classified material on electronic systems that were not certified for storing them, that in itself is a crime.

      What is there to misunderstand here? The data was "born classified" and she did not have the authority to declare something unclassified. This separation is intentional, the people that declare something classified cannot be the same people that receive it. Not even the Secretary of State can declassify the classified material she receives. I don't know the process on that but it is not a simple process. By placing that information on a system not deemed secured for classified material she has committed a crime. It is a crime even if she did not intend to transmit that to a person not deemed fit to receive it. It is a crime even if there is proof that it had not been taken by an adversary. The fact that the server was not monitored by the people at the Department of State there is no way to prove that the data was not copied by an adversary.

      only to enable capabilities which were denied her and critical to job function in the information age.

      I was going to write a lengthy paragraph on why you are wrong but instead I'll respond with a single word: Bullshit.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    9. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which makes Snowden an international hero, and Clinton an idiot, albeit a useful one.

      That said, she's still got my vote, because the alternative is too horrible to consider.

    10. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The critical thing you're forgetting is that classified information being released, whether intentionally or inadvertently, IS A GOOD THING.

      It's much harder to be shitty to the rest of the world when your shittiness gets leaked.

      Snowden is a hero, Assange is a hero. They're protecting the world from the secrets of evil people.

    11. Re:Perfect Alibi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      faggot

  12. Fuck the FBI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Why would I want to help those criminals? Come to think of it fuck the banks too.

  13. what the?! I'd sooner install death on my phone! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ROTFL!

    Yes, of course FBI that illegally spies on people, that uses more methods to bend, and creatively interpret the law than your average bank robber.. yes, PLEASE can I have apps that you author to install?

    Oh wait, I'm already running a few you uploaded to Google Play under false identities to track and root my device, so maybe this app is legit I guess.

  14. Why would I go to a bank? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't need cash money and the loans the bank offers usually suck.
    Close all the banks and there will be no more bank robberies.

    1. Re:Why would I go to a bank? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed.

      I closed my bank account 3 years ago and I don't miss a damn thing. I'm 100% cash only now. If I need to order something online, I just buy a gift card.

    2. Re:Why would I go to a bank? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use a credit union instead of a bank. They aren't part of the corrupt federal reserve system.

  15. Re:what the?! I'd sooner install death on my phone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The apps that the FBI offers are probably the least likely place they would use monitoring software, because it's just too damn obvious.

    We're one executive order away from forcing Google, Apple and Microsoft to install monitoring software in the vast majority of devices used.

  16. turn tables by kqc7011 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How about a app that lets one find Stingrays?

    --
    Passionately Indifferent
    1. Re:turn tables by gijoel · · Score: 1

      Don't worry they'll find you.

    2. Re:turn tables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and I suspect thats the point of giving an FBI App access to your GPS.

    3. Re:turn tables by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Aren't there ones that detect if you're connected to a Stingray?

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    4. Re:turn tables by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about a app that lets one find Stingrays?

      How about this? https://cellularprivacy.github.io/Android-IMSI-Catcher-Detector/

  17. It's not the app America needs... by Powercntrl · · Score: 1

    ...it's the app America deserves.

    I've seen enough Batman movies to know it's a bad idea to be a vigilante. Also, bat nipples.

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  18. there they are! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Allan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke!

    I would report them both as bank robbers wherever they travel because according to Modern Money Mechanics by Federal Reserve wherefrom bankers have pronounced loanee's promise to repay deposit money as an international obligation of the United States and having put additional currencies in circulation based on a promise and interest the Federal Reserve branch or agency didnt provide would prove the libel otherwise from fact of the loaned individual receiving funds is an actual co-creator of the loaned monies as a bank of people in itself being divested of potential to the Federal Reserve branch or agency! Private credit is property that courts and government is not entitiled to! As well, only Lawful Money can be taxed, not private credit aka gaming tokens. Bernanke and Greenspan are robbing the people individually and as a whole. Official Mis-conduct.

  19. I loaded the app ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    .... and all I could see was the Goldman Sachs home page.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  20. ONLY apps can app apps! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These are simply apps apping other apps so you can app apps while apping apps! Nothing wrong with that, unless you're a LUDDITE who is too stupid to app

    an app and can only use LUDDITE software!

    Apps!

    1. Re:ONLY apps can app apps! by THE_WELL_HUNG_OYSTER · · Score: 1

      This.

  21. Crowdsourcing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Citizens already have a duty to report a felony so this doesn't achieve much. The witnesses will upload their photos to the FBI instead of Instagram, meaning there's less narcissistic glory.

    It's necessary to be wary of vigilante-driven crowd-sourcing: Self-appointed do-good-ers tried that after the Boston Marathon bombing and blamed 2 innocent brown-skinned guys.

    1. Re:Crowdsourcing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Citizens already have a duty to report a felony so this doesn't achieve much. The witnesses will upload their photos to the FBI instead of Instagram, meaning there's less narcissistic glory.

      It's necessary to be wary of vigilante-driven crowd-sourcing: Self-appointed do-good-ers tried that after the Boston Marathon bombing and blamed 2 innocent brown-skinned guys.

      "Innocent Brown Skinned Guys"?

      FUck you and all you trump supporting lying idiot bastards! Go straight to hell, do not pass go and burn there for eternity!

    2. Re:Crowdsourcing by DarkVader · · Score: 1

      There is no such duty.

      Under certain circumstances it may be illegal to actively conceal a crime, but you have absolutely no duty to report a felony.

  22. Yeah.. who trusts the FBI? by Cyberpunk+Reality · · Score: 1

    FBI Bank Robbers APK Can access your contacts FBI Bank Robbers APK Can access your accounts FBI Bank Robbers APK Can access your USB storage FBI Bank Robbers APK May share your location

    --
    Rule 35 of the internet: "If it can be hacked, it will be". - Charles Stross
  23. Am I paranoid ... by MondoGordo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    to think this would be a perfect opportunity for FBI malware that collects information about the American public to be distributed to your phone? They don't need a back door in the OS if you can be convinced to install one for them.

  24. Can we please have titles written by adults? by rebelwarlock · · Score: 1

    Trying to be cute with an article title appeals only to the lowest common denominator.

  25. Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Banks ARE robbers.

  26. agent webdev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WHY are americans paying for some bored FBI agent to fiddle with webdev

  27. Considering recent history by sa1lnr · · Score: 1

    I thought you only had to look at the board of directors. :)

  28. Who robs banks anymore? by Catmeat · · Score: 1

    Who robs banks anymore? The take is comparatively low, the risk of capture extremely high and prison sentences lengthy.

    It's a crime that is rapidly dying out,

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...

    https://www.theguardian.com/ed...

  29. This is really useful ... by Alain+Williams · · Score: 1

    it tells me which banks have been robbed most often and where the cases are not solved. Thus which ones I should rob since I would be most likely to not get caught!

    Thanks FBI - a great tool to help me plan my next bank job!

  30. I do not want to hunt bank robbers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Indeed, I want bank robbers to get away.

    I want to hunt bank managers.

    They're dangerous criminals that should not be allowed to wander the streets.

    Bank robbers are the bootstrappy heroes of the new American economy.

    1. Re:I do not want to hunt bank robbers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amusing thought:

      Buy burner phone with cash.

      Install this app.

      Give FBI tips on all bank managers in your area.

      Throw in some random cops for good measure.

  31. PAYDAY 2 mod? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long before somebody makes a mod for PAYDAY 2 that creates a mission selection map based on this?

  32. In unrelated headlines... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With Winphones you can't even know about bank robberies, what a sad goodbye