Police are warning the public as a spike in violent “bank jugging” robberies is on the rise across Southern California, especially during the holidays.

“Bank jugging” involves thieves staking out potential victims in bank parking lots while following them to their next destination in order to rob them. They typically target those who have withdrawn large amounts of cash.

Busy shopping centers are prime spots for suspects searching for their next target.

“These are dangerous crimes,” Lt. Derek Green with the Burbank Police Department tells KTLA’s John Fenoglio. “The crime is usually when a group of people follow unsuspecting victims to a bank and wait for them to withdraw a large amount of cash. Once the victim leaves the bank, they follow them to their intended destination.”

Police say this type of organized robbery is nothing new.

“You usually have somebody driving a vehicle,” explains Green. “Oftentimes, you have somebody that’s actually inside the bank posing as a customer themselves and they’re in communication with each other, so they’re keeping close eyes on their victims.”

Surveillance video captured a bank jugging incident in Sherman Oaks this past July.