Tokyo police note rise in ATM crime

Tokyo police note rise in ATM crime
Tags: Security
August 15, 2002

TOKYO -- The number of reported robberies targeting people who have just withdrawn money from financial institutions and ATMs has risen sharply in central Tokyo, according to a report in the Yomiuri Shimbun.

The Metropolitan Police Department said 41 such robberies were reported from January to July, which surpassed the 37 similar robberies reported for the entire year of 2001. Twenty-three such robberies were reported in 2000.

According to the MPD, the number of victims has been rising sharply since June this year. MPD officials said the perpetrators often distract their victims -- most of whom have just withdrawn sizable amounts of cash from financial institutions -- by making a noise or talking to them in a foreign language.