A LA Lucia resident fell victim to ATM thieves after his card was cloned, recently. Several transactions were made at different locations in KwaMashu and R29 000 was withdrawn from the account within a day. Durban North SAPS spokesman, Capt Raymond Deokaran, said the thieves distracted the card holder while he was at the ATM and swapped his card before fleeing on foot.
“The incident occurred at an ATM in La Lucia at about 2.30pm on Sunday. The thieves withdrew almost R1 000 within the first hour and then proceeded to try their luck. They kept withdrawing until the card was stopped. We believe the criminals shoulder surfed to get the man’s pin number and then grabbed his card before fleeing,” he said.
In September, the station warned ATM users about a string of thefts in uMhlanga.
Deokaran urged residents to register for the notify service, which several banks offer, which automatically sends an SMS to customers when there is any activity on their accounts, such as withdrawals, debit orders and credit-card purchases.
