No Return on Fake Deposit Box

Gullible bank customers dumped thousands of dollars into a phony night deposit box, but the bandits who concocted the scam never got a chance to collect, detectives said today.

Depositors, mostly merchants from two shopping centers, put about $21,000 in cash and an undisclosed amount in checks into the 3 1/2-foot-high metal box placed outside a branch of the Fleet Bank with a sign indicating that the regular box was broken.

Police, tipped off by suspicious customers, staked out the scene but called off the surveillance after eight hours without capturing the would-be thieves.

“We wanted to be absolutely sure not to lose the money. We could not risk it,” Detective Jack Casey said.