Shoulder surfing ATM thieves steal R24 000

THREE residents were collectively robbed of R24 500 in card snatching incidents in uMhlanga and Durban North recently. In one of the incidents, a local resident had R17 000 withdrawn from his account over a period of seven days.

What’s more all three incidents have involved the same modus operandi.

“The resident had used an ATM on Mackeurtan Avenue and a man behind her stood at her should and kept pressing the cancel button. He grabbed her card and ran out of the ATM stall and jumped into a getaway vehicle. All three incidents had the same modus operandi,” said Lt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the Durban North station.

“In the second incident, another local resident had R3 000 taken from her account. Again a man was reportedly at her shoulder, and she spotted him in her peripheral vision, but he still managed to press the cancel button and run off with her card. It’s important to keep your information confidential and avoid lesser-used ATMs. People are well within their rights to ask someone to step back,” he said.

It’s believed the men ‘shoulder surf’ where the criminal distracts the card holder as the thief peers over the cardholder’s shoulder. Then as they enter their PIN number the criminal subsequently steals the card itself.

He urged bank customers to register for the notification service, which automatically sends an SMS to customers when there is any activity on their accounts, such as withdrawals, debit orders and credit-card purchases.

“If you see anything suspicious, contact the police or cancel the transaction,” he said.

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