In New Zealand, the man who robbed an Auckland bank wasn’t satisfied with his haul, so he phoned the bank, identified himself as “the guy who robbed you the other day,” and demanded that the bank’s manager bring a bag of money outside for him to pick up. A plainclothes police officer stood waiting for him instead, but he never showed up. He then phoned again, asking the bank manager to meet him down the street. Again, he never showed up for his money – but police traced the phone calls and arrested him anyway.
You might wonder why a bank robber would try something that stupid, but consider this: In Chicago a few months back, somebody tried robbing a bank by pulling into a drive-through window, where there’s no actual contact with a teller but instead money and receipts are sent back and forth through pneumatic tubes, and sent the teller a note demanding money. The teller obliged.
The Illinois robber was lazy, and hopefully, arrested.
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I HAVE A GUN. TAKE ALL THE MONEY YOU HAVE AND PUT IT IN A BAG AND DELIVER IT TO ME AT 123 MAIN STREET
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I keep reading in the paper of people who walk into banks, hand the tellers notes, receive money, and leave — displaying no weapons, and threatening no harm — and they’re being sought for robbing banks.
If I walk into a bank, ask for money, and they give it to me, does that actually constitute robbery?
You should ask that question on Language Log, Powers.
It nicely illustrates that most of communication is implicit.
I vaguely recall a story about a guy during the Depression, who put up an ad asking people to give him a dollar. He had crowds lining his office to give him one, and he was very strict that noöne was allowed to give him more than one.
Nothing more happened, and noöne ever heard from him again. Does that constitute fraud?