How I Rob Banks

Chapter 7The Broken Arm Ruse

There are countless ways to gain access to a building. The odds are always stacked against the defender, and there is always at least one way to successfully compromise the target. One of the oldest tricks in the book, when it comes to lifting or pickpocketing, is the good old-fashioned pretend broken arm. For those of you who do not know about this, the attacker crafts a fake plaster-cast arm sling, maybe even with a fake hand sticking out the end. The crafty criminal can pretend their arm is broken while their real arm/hand is free to move around under cover of the jacket they are wearing, which is often modified with a slit to allow outside access.

When close to the mark, the criminal (or social engineer) will create some diversion, and the real hand will slither out and steal the target item and back into the jacket before anyone notices.

I have never resorted to this technique, but I can see its use, maybe not to lift anything of value, but perhaps to convince someone to do something like hold a door open that they shouldn't.

I would like you to keep that in mind as we delve into the next small story of how I was able to gain access to an interesting office space of an insurance company.

The company approached us with the task of gaining access to sensitive files held on the third floor of the building. The design of the building was rather odd, or at least unusual.

The front entrance was at the base of a glass-fronted stairwell. The reception ...