Edenvale residents have been urged to remain vigilant and exercise caution when making use of ATMs.
This comes after a man made use of a CBD ATM, withdrew money and had his money taken from him.
Captain Jean Olckers, a spokesperson of the Edenvale SAPS, said the incident occurred on July 26.
“After the victim used the ATM, a man approached him and told the victim he had been touched by someone else who had a liquid on their hands,” said Olckers.
The man told the victim that the liquid was magic but there was an off-duty police officer nearby who could assist him.
“The victim was told if he didn’t get help the magic would steal his money,” said Olckers.
After agreeing to accept the man’s help the victim climbed into a car with the man and the alleged police officer.
The man gave the police officer his wallet which was sprayed with another solution.
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Olckers said the solution was sprayed by the officer to “counteract” the magic.
Once the victim had returned to his own vehicle he noticed his money had been taken.
“It is unclear at what point the money was taken from the victim,” added Olckers.
Olckers appealed to the community not to fall for these scams and never seek assistance from people when using an ATM machine.
He highlighted that residents must only seek assistance from the relative officials and know how to identify them.
Despite this, he still urged residents to be extremely careful when seeking assistance at an ATM as anyone could pretend to be an official.
According to Olckers the officer which had assisted the victim was not a real police officer.
“If the man had been an officer he would have had a police ID and full uniform. The man had been in normal clothes” explained Olckers.
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