NICKNAME SHORTAG

THE FBI IS RUNNING OUT OF NICKNAMES FOR BANK ROBBERS:

White-collar criminals have been getting all the headlines recently. But good-old-fashioned bank robbers get the best nicknames. You can steal more dough by bilking investors, but it's cooler to stick-up a bank and become known as ''The Straw Hat Bandit."

I always thought these guys made up their own names, or that newspapers created them. But it turns out . . . it's the FBI. They think up memorable nicknames for serial bank robbers . . . people who rip off three banks or more . . . because it helps lead to arrests.

According to the FBI, a well-crafted nickname makes sure that a manhunt gets plenty of media attention. It also helps potential witnesses remember the bandit's disguise . . . like "The Groucho Bandit'' . . . or their getaway car, like ''The Cadillac Bandit''.

Here's the problem: Bank robberies are on the rise. There are more than 7,000 a year nationwide, and the numbers are growing by almost 5% a year. In fact, there are so many bank robbers at large that the FBI is having trouble thinking of new names for all of them. They claim that coming up with the names is one of their biggest challenges.

There were so many bank robberies last year in Chicago alone . . . 276, almost a record . . . that the FBI office there had to start reusing nicknames, like ''The Kangol Bandit 2'', for guys who rob banks wearing a Kangol hat.

Check out five pages of photos and nicknames of at-large robbers, including the Grizzly Adams Bandit and the Armed Clown Bandit, courtesy of the FBI's L.A. office, here . . .)http://www.labankrobbers.org/serial_bandits_01.htm