German police crack down on ATM attacks

They literally break the bank.

German police have detained 42 people suspected of blowing up ATMs, according to the Washington Post.

The detentions were part of a crackdown on thieves who destroy cars to steal cash, a type of vandalism that has plagued the country in recent years.

There were 496 cases last year alone, a 27% increase from 2021, according to the German Ministry of the Interior.

Last week, police in seven of Germany’s 16 states searched more than 5,300 vehicles and 8,000 people.

“The dramatic increase in ATM explosions, often carried out with highly dangerous explosives, threatens the lives of unauthorized third parties,” Home Secretary Nancy Feiser said in a statement.

According to a report by the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, the suspects hack into the front of an ATM and flood the port where the money usually comes from with explosive gas.

The report says the thieves have stolen more than $1.3 million since they started in 2016.

To prevent attacks, ATMs in German bank lobbies will be closed at night, when most incidents occur, Bloomberg reported.

With mail wires