After a number of very quiet years, ATM bombings are back in the Netherlands, the police noted last week. Until mid-May, the police already counted fourteen, more than half of which were in Amsterdam. And at least one more was added this week in Bilthoven – the second in Utrecht. There were only four in 2025.
The number of explosive raids is still much less than the 129 in 2013. After that, attempts to obtain large amounts of cash using brute force could be stopped for a long time. The criminals usually used gas to detonate the machines: put gas in, ignite, boom. I saw such an exploded ATM in the ING archives – it was just a pile of twisted steel. This gas method is no longer possible because the ATMs have been adapted. If gas is detected, oxygen is quickly removed from the regulator. And no oxygen = no explosion.
The criminals then turned to the ‘pizza slider method’. A flat container of metal or plastic containing explosives is pushed with rods into the mouth of the ATM. Like a pizza going into the oven. This method caused the peak in the number of explosives in 2019.
Successful export and import
These explosive raiding measures were effective in the Netherlands for a long time. The major Dutch banks all transferred their machines to Geldmaat, and the pizza method was no longer possible in the new yellow machines.
It was not that there were no more explosions. The Dutch perpetrators, mostly from Utrecht and Amsterdam, crossed the border. To Germany, where the gas method remained possible for much longer. Their return journeys are infamous: down the Autobahn at high speeds in Audis. Just last month, nine Dutch people were arrested for explosive attacks in Germany and Switzerland.
But now the criminals have moved their work area back to their own country. The first burglary in Bilthoven in February turned out to be the first of the new series. In the first weeks, seal bag vending machines were targeted six times. These are Geldmaat machines where entrepreneurs can deposit their cash – still an important place in economic transactions for many entrepreneurs.
Cat and mouse game
Moneymate took measures in March that still apply: seal bag vending machines at houses are closed. The criminals use heavy explosives, often cobras, to detonate the vending machines, which is dangerous for local residents. Other outdoor vending machines were closed after 2 p.m. so that Geldmaat can have them emptied immediately. Since then, no more seal bag machines have ‘popped’, according to a spokesperson.
The burglaries did not stop after that, but now ATMs of parties other than Geldmaat are targets. Like this week in Bilthoven: two people wearing helmets tried to crack into a loose vending machine in a barbershop in a shopping center. The machines are no longer recognizable in the photos of this and similar bombings, but they are probably machines from, for example, Euronet and YourCash.
Taghi
The explosion of explosives has serious consequences:
- The captured cash goes to financing drug trafficking. The gangs involved in explosive raids in the 1910s were affiliated with, for example, Ridouan Taghi.
- Anyone who has such an ATM nearby will not sleep well – the criminals don’t seem to care for the safety of local residents with the strong explosives they use.
- Entrepreneurs who have received cash from their customers can make limited deposits, as long as Geldmaat has not yet taken effective additional security measures. VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland already wrote that this should not take too long. They advise entrepreneurs not to save too much cash – after all, that is also dangerous.
- A party like Geldmaat spends a lot of money on securing the machines. This ultimately results in higher rates. For entrepreneurs to deposit money – that is already expensive – but also indirectly for consumers through the costs for a current account.
Entrepreneurs who accept notes and coins will be extra careful. Or even consider limiting cash – I even read that as advice to the Platform for Safe Entrepreneurship Amsterdam-Amstelland. While the idea in the Netherlands and Europe is to give cash a stronger role again. Simply as a backup, or for when the power goes out or a disaster occurs. But also to promote European sovereignty: while debit card or online payment often involves an American payment service, a cash payment is ‘purely’ European.
I am looking for entrepreneurs who are dealing with the landfill problem. Tip? Email me at [email protected]
