AS the festive season looms, the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) has warned bank customers to be wary of their surroundings when going to and from the bank to deposit or to withdraw cash. The criminals work in organised syndicates and often use ‘spotters’ that look-out for people making large cash withdrawals inside bank branches.
Once the perpetrators identify their victims, they pass on the information to their co-perpetrators; who are usually in the vicinity of the bank, and who in turn, rob the individual, either at his place of business, home or en route to their destination.
SABRIC’s statistics indicate a 7.4 per cent decrease of these robberies for the period January to September 2013, with 1 003 incidents as opposed to the 1 083 incidents for the same period in 2012, these numbers still remain too high. Though there has been no reported cases in Durban North for the last month, Lt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for station, urged residents to be vigilant when using ATMs and not to accept strangers’ help.
Last month, three residents were robbed of R214 000 collectively in suspected card-cloning incidents. “Residents must be vigilant at ATMs and keep their personal information confidential and avoid lonely areas. It’s also important to guard the keypad.”
He urged bank customers to register for the notify service, which automatically sends an SMS to customers when there was 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.
