The Durban North station has urged people to be vigilant and not to accept strangers’ help while at an ATM.
According to Lt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for station, while there hasn’t been a spike in card cloning, there have been several incidences of the crime in North Durban in recent weeks. This is the third case reported in Sunningdale this month.
“When the resident put her card into the ATM, a man waiting behind told her something was wrong with the machine. He tampered with it and the resident’s card was swallowed.
”Only later in the month did she notice that R2 000 had been taken from her account,” he said.
“I urge residents to be vigilant at ATMs and keep their personal information confidential and not to accept help from strangers.”
Chairman of the Durban North/uMhlanga community police forum, Hayden Searles, said criminals commonly try to distract you while you are busy with at the ATM.
“Most commonly these gadgets are fitted to ATM machines. The skimming device is fitted over the card slot on the machine and copies the details from the magnetic strip as you enter your details,” he explained. Searles said, while at at ATM to check pamphlet holders for small built in cameras.
“The criminals who try and clone your card use the same modus operandi, where one person distracts you while the other skims your card. If you see anything suspicious, contact the police or cancel the transaction,” Searles said. Last month, three residents were robbed of R214 000 collectively in suspected card-cloning incidents.
