OT One more thing to worry about.

Duner Wi

Well-known Member
I was thinking Safe deposit boxes were secure.
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/02/06/how-is-this-possible-valuables-67k-in-cash-missing-from-womans-safe-deposit-box/
 
They are not secure at all. The bank owns that box. The Federal Reserve owns the bank (for all practical purposes). The government decides they want what is inside your box. They serve papers on the bank. The bank opens up the box, hands your stuff to the government, off it goes. With civil asset forfeiture, the government can decide that your stuff in "your" box was part of a crime. They confiscate your stuff and make you hire a lawyer and negotiate to get some of it back. The only secure place for anything is on your property when you are the only person who knows where it is.
 
Recently looked into this myself, keeping tabs on one we've had a long time, making sure I understand the rules etc. Definitely not a good place to keep cash, not FDIC insured. I'm appalled that ones SDB could be compromised like that, no matter the contents. Also odd is that this women's 67K in cash actually fit inside there, given how she described where this savings came from.
Had to be an inside job, bet they catch the person, that is truly the lowest form of life on earth.
 
I have bunch of collectable currency and at one time had half that much in my safe deposit box at bank along with titles to all my trucks in there.
 
Someone else has access to the box. We quit the safe deposit because unless a name is listed and on the signature card the estate cannot open it until probate. I was on my mother's box and was glad that we had done that. Many documents that I needed as her guardian and executor were in the box.
 
But a safe deposit box is better for cash than between the pages of books at your house, which is where a lot of seniors put it.
 
I don't see anywhere in the article where it says anything about "civil forfeiture" or the Federal government taking her stuff.

Most likely this was an inside job. Bank employee watching security footage to see who puts large amounts of cash in their safety deposit boxes.
 
(quoted from post at 14:13:45 02/08/20) What proof does she have that anything of value was in the box?
She could be a liar.

This. I have never heard of a bank being able to open the box without a keyholder present. I have a locksmith friend who has made some decent money drilling SDB open for banks when the owner of the box lost the key. I do not think they would pay the locksmith to drill the box, plus have that much damage to the box, if the bank had some kind of master key
 
(quoted from post at 12:49:30 02/08/20)
(quoted from post at 14:13:45 02/08/20) What proof does she have that anything of value was in the box?
She could be a liar.

This. I have never heard of a bank being able to open the box without a keyholder present. I have a locksmith friend who has made some decent money drilling SDB open for banks when the owner of the box lost the key. I do not think they would pay the locksmith to drill the box, plus have that much damage to the box, if the bank had some kind of master key

That's how it's SUPPOSED to be, but if you're a conspiracy theorist type, you don't believe it for a second. They'll say the locksmith thing is just a dog and pony show for the customer. If they came out in front of the customer and said, "Oh no problem, we have a spare/master key," the banks would lose ALL credibility. Instantly.

The conspiracy theorist type will tell you the bank ALWAYS has a "back door" to safety deposit boxes, so the government can swoop in and take it all at the drop of a hat. Though, why the government would bother with $64000 and a few heirlooms is beyond me. Not like it's going to make an appreciable dent in the national debt, or even a down payment on some "black ops."

I find a much more plausible story in a bank employee (or a criminal associate they provided with access) picked the customer lock and took the contents. They KNEW there was a large sum of money in there, likely because they observed this woman putting it in the box either through surveillance footage or simple peeking. It's not like these are complicated locks to pick. Here I believe the locksmith drilling the lock is definitely a dog and pony show because they don't want the customer to know how easy these old locks are to pick.
 
Really? Ask the folks on Cyprus how not keeping their cash where they could get to it worked out.Or a person that had money in the bank in 1929.Actually there is only a fraction of real cash in existence compared to how much is on bank's computer screens,in a cash crunch it'll be like musical chairs except there will be one chair for 20 depositers if that much.
 
Agreed. If the government ship starts sinking they have a law in place where they can legally skim 8% from all accounts. They put this law quietly in place after the Cyprus debacle.

Vito
 
And, although these are "Do Not Duplicate" keys, an experienced locksmith certainly can, don't ask how I know.
I do wonder what kind of lock, cylinder they commonly use.
 
At my bank, two keys are required to open my box. I have one and the bank has one. Both keys have to be inserted and unlocked at the same time. Locking either lock and removing the key secures it. Then the other party can lock their lock and remove the key. Always takes a few minutes.
 
From what I understand of Craig?s list transactions, everyone is driving around with 100 thousand in their pockets, this lady was a piker to have less than that in cash?

Just don?t want a record of it, the govt watches any amount of cash over $10,000 isn?t it?

Paul
 
Some of the ideas on this topic border on the silly.

I agree with Pappy about the 2-key system...let me explain:
The bank where I have accounts and a SDB was bought out by BMO, and now the bank is going out of business and the building has been sold. The bank sent out a letter informing us of this, plus a notice for us to remove the contents of our SDB. When I went into the SDB room with a bank employee, there were many box doors hanging open...meaning the customers had been there to get their contents. I asked if they had a hard time finding some people who died or just moved away and never were heard from again. The employee said those boxes will have to be drilled in order to open them as they have only their one key.
I moved my materials to another bank and they are now in a new SDB, where they belong.
When I die, my wife and son have their signatures on file so they can readily retrieve any contents they need quickly. All family records, titles to autos, purchase agreements, CDs, etc. are in a fire proof room, unlike our house which can get blown away or burned in any given year.
LA in WI

PS OH, did I say anything about that black helicopter passing over our house night after night? It has a powerful spot light that blinds you.
 
(quoted from post at 13:55:11 02/08/20) Right! A relative passed away a few years ago and her husband found cash stashed all over, who knows if he will ever find it all?

The lawyer we did our will with had some stories . He has had to deal with situations where valuables had to be found and dig out of the ground with a map . More than once they have cut drywall in a house to obtain what was stashed in the wall space .
Retired fire chief from Toronto than we know. Back in the days when people I m rooming houses could smoke indoors . His crew was overhauling a burning mattress to ensure the bed fire was out . Cash started rolling out of the mattress .
Made for a lot of extra paperwork on that call.
 
A house in Charlottesville VA that was a house of ill repute as they say for quite awhile was torn down back in the late 1960's,apparently money was stashed in the walls when the dozer hit the house money flew all over the dozer was left sitting and running no operator, word got around town quickly was a mob scene for quite awhile that afternoon.
 
I agree . Now I?m not a really big tinfoil hat guy but it pays to be careful .
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And I actually have the Military helicopters with the real bright lights and very loud fly over my place all the time at night.I'm about 3 miles from the airport runway and the
Army Ground Intelligence facility is just across the mountain from me.If you stop your car for more than a few minutes on US 29 down from their place a couple folks will show up in a few
minutes to see what is going on, check you out,etc.Know several people that work there real nice folks but not a word about their work,the one is a pretty good friend he might call me from anywhere in the world.
 
That?s pretty neat . Makes you wonder what they?re up to? I?ve seen the black helicopters a few times but not very many times. Not much air traffic around here at all though.
 
I picked this little jewel up a while back. I was never able to find a dang car title or anything when I needed it and got tired or running to the depoist box at the bank all the time. There always closed when I need in there. I plan on keeping papers and some irreplaceable family history and photos and a small amount of cash.
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(quoted from post at 17:17:52 02/08/20) And, although these are "Do Not Duplicate" keys, an experienced locksmith certainly can, don't ask how I know.
I do wonder what kind of lock, cylinder they commonly use.

There's nothing about the keys themselves that prevents duplication other than the honor of the guy running the key machine.
 
Safety deposits boxes are fairly straightforward to pick, its just bank PR policy to have them drilled so customers think they are secure.

They aren't particularly pick resistant or anything as they usually use access control to the room to provide most of the security.

It is very strange how many people put a lot of faith into cheap locks. They are just there to slow people down, and the cheap ones can't even do that, better have another layer or two of security.
 
When my brother had a stroke I was appointed guardian and conservator. Found out he had a safety deposit box at the bank. I inquired and was told I need his key. Well, where is that. Tore his house apart and found it.

Bank employee went in to the room with me and with their key plus my key, opened the box. Then, she never even glanced in the box, gave it to me and left me alone in room to open and go through the box. When I was done, rang her up, she came in and we locked the box back up. Looked pretty secure to me, but what do I know as I don't really have anything valuable that would fit in that box.
 
Argghh! This tread has picked the scab on one of my biggest pet peeves.

It is a box- a box in which you deposit things. IT IS INSIDE A SAFE. THERE IS NO "SAFETY" INVOLVED. IT IS A SAFE DEPOSIT BOX.
 

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