[2][3] The practice began as a twist on a tactic used by the Irish Republican Army, which kidnapped people in order to coerce others into placing car bombs.
[6] According to International Herald Tribune, tiger kidnappings "have become common in Ireland, a close-knit society where criminals can closely track their targets" and "they have typically involved thefts below €1 million.
"[6] After the 2009 Bank of Ireland robbery, Charlie Flanagan, a member of the Irish Parliament, remarked that “tiger kidnappings are taking place in Ireland... at a rate of almost one per week.”[7] Businesses can take several steps to guard against these such as mandating that two or more people must work in tandem in order to open sensitive areas such as bank vaults and cash boxes.
[4] The movies Cash on Demand, Nick of Time, Bandits, Firewall, Intermission and Waist Deep dramatize tiger kidnappings.
The video game Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Justice for All features a tiger kidnapping as a plot point in its final case.