After robbing and assaulting the 78-year-old woman, the man fled the scene and escaped capture. The woman later died of her injuries. Police were soon alerted to the fact that the woman's bank card was being used to withdraw cash from an ATM at the Jaffa branch of Bank Hapoalim. The ATM camera, which is managed by the Visual Defence digital video recording (DViR) platform, captured an image of the individual withdrawing cash using the victim's card.

The individual was later arrested on a similar robbery and assault crime and, when presented with the ATM image and evidence connecting him directly to recent activity on her bank card, confessed responsibility for the robbery and murder of the elderly woman.

"We are very pleased to have been instrumental in aiding the police to solve this terrible crime,² says Shay Gilnoyer, security officer, Bank Hapoalim, who is responsible for the bank's central security monitoring center "The prevention of identity theft is of paramount concern and one of the primary reasons for our installation of ATM cameras. In this case, not only did the
cameras successfully fulfill that requirement, but also provided the key evidence to remove a dangerous criminal from the streets"

The Visual Defence DViR is a digital video recorder and streamer for the management and monitoring of live and recorded video assets. After an alarm is tripped, the DViR can automatically present multiple video streams on specific workstations and capture high-quality images of the event. Using advanced video motion detection, the DViR can also trigger motion alarms and
start specific macro event sequences. Completely scalable and customizable, the DViR enables unique configuration for each specific camera in the surveillance system, all via a user-friendly Windows GUI.

"Recent research has shown that, in the US alone, approximately 15 million people between 2005 and 2006 were victims of some sort of identity-theft related event," says Dagan Sadeh, CEO at Visual Defence "The Visual Defence DViR provides banks and other organizations with a redundant, scalable platform supporting video motion detection, pre- and post-alarm recording, wireless access and two-way audio. The system enables a complete audio-video surveillance solution, increasing the safety of customers and the security of their identities and assets"

The Bank Hapoalim is now upgrading its DViR system, which includes 252 branches and 400 ATMs, to work over its IP network.