Ride the Lightning

"Office Creeper" Breaks Into Law Firm in Norfolk VA

September 2, 2015

Ameenah Franks has been called an "office creeper" in crime alerts. She represents an aspect of security that many law firms ignore. The 30-year-old has already served time for stealing from businesses.

How did she get into all these businesses? She had an extensive jailhouse interview about that with the Virginian-Pilot. Dressing and speaking well helped her gain access to offices, as did subterfuges such as presenting fake credentials; tailgating legitimate employees as they entered; and standing outside a door, with cigarette in hand, ready to walk in after what appeared to be a smoke break.

Gaining workplace access allowed her to steal money and electronic devices. But it also gave her a sense of belonging from people who mistakenly thought she was a fellow employee, Franks said. Sometimes she took nothing.

She's been linked to "creeping" into the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of the Treasury, the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Environmental Protection Agency and others. More than a little scary that she could get into places which should be secure.

In June, security cameras captured images of a well-dressed woman who looked like Franks breaking into the Kaufman & Canoles law office on the 21st floor of the Sun Trust tower in Norfolk, according to the newspaper. The firm's Chairman, Bill Van Buren, told the newspaper the culprit in the Kaufman & Canoles break-in tried without success to persuade a security guard she was an employee there, then pried open a locked door after staff had gone home. The thief took money, laptops and more.

“I heard that at another firm, she was seen sitting in one of the lawyer’s chairs, adjusting it to her liking,” Van Buren said of the suspect. “She claimed to be an intern, and if you tell a believable enough story aggressively to a low-level employee, they won’t challenge you. They don’t want to offend anybody.”

Obviously, the security guard did a good job. But a door that can be pried open probably isn't adequately defending a law office. It appears that Franks got into at least two law firms from the story. Once again, our point in CLEs about annually training employees about social engineering is underscored. As is our harping on physical security. And I hope the electronic devices she took from Kaufman & Canoles were encrypted! The firm says it has beefed up security, which we are glad of – we have friends there. But it seems to take an incident like this one before law firms react – being proactive would be much wiser!

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