FBI Bank Robbers App


Publicity Helps—and So Can You

The FBI has long used publicity to enlist the public’s help in taking dangerous criminals off the streets—from wanted posters tacked to post office walls in decades past to the social media and web technologies of today.

The Bank Robbers website—and the new FBI Bank Robbers mobile app—continue that tradition by calling specific attention to unknown violent and/or serial bank robbery suspects who are wanted by the Bureau.

The publicity works. In one case, for example, the Bank Robbers website featured an unknown suspect believed responsible for multiple armed takeover style robberies in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Local police later received a tip in the mail that broke the case wide open—a printed page from the website with a handwritten name scrawled across it. That information helped authorities track down and arrest the suspect.

So use your smartphone in a crime-smart way—download the app and help protect your local community and the nation as a whole.

About the App

In late 2012, the FBI unveiled a specialized website at https://bankrobbers.fbi.gov containing pictures, profiles, and posters of wanted bank robbers around the country—the first national system of its kind.

Featuring a U.S. map and various search options and filters, the site enlists the help of the public in locating dangerous criminals—especially violent and serial offenders—who have robbed banks, credit unions, armored car companies, and related businesses.

Now, the FBI is taking this tool one step further by putting information from the site right at your fingertips—through a free mobile application that works on Apple and Android devices, including smartphones, iPads, and iPods.

It’s called the FBI Bank Robbers app, and it is designed to enable the public—along with financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and other Bureau partners—to view details on bank robberies in different parts of the country more quickly and easily.

Benefits of the App

Similar to the full website, the FBI Bank Robbers app enables you to sort robberies by date, category (for example, armed serial bank robber), the FBI office working the case, or the state where the robbery occurred. You can also access surveillance photos, physical description information, robbery details, and the FBI’s wanted poster for each suspect. Along with the ease of use and convenience that comes with a mobile app, FBI Bank Robbers provides additional features and options not available on the website:

  • If location services are enabled on your device, you can view a map that shows the bank robberies
  • in your area.
  • You can select push notifications to be informed when a bank robbery has taken place near your location.

On each suspect page, the app includes two buttons that enable users to immediately report any information on the robbery—one button places a call to the FBI and the other links directly to the FBI online tips page. On the suspect pages, you can also tap any image to enlarge the photo and use the map to zoom in on the robbery location.

Although the app features hundreds of bank robberies at any given time, it does not include every robbery in the United States.

How to Download the Free App

Depending on your device, go to Google Play or the Apple App Store and search for FBI Bank Robbers. You can also click on one of the following links below: