The Honeydew Police are on a drive to promote safety around shopping centres as crime surrounding shops continue to be an issue in the Honeydew policing area.
Honeydew police spokesperson Captain Balan Muthan issued the following safety tips for shoppers to follow when frequenting their local shopping destination:
- Always carry your bag around your neck and diagonally across your body. Try not to carry it hanging over one shoulder.
- Put your wallet in your inside coat or the front pants pocket, never in your back pocket.
- If you are paying in cash, make sure that you do not take out more than is required. Never carry large sums of money.
- Never leave valuable possessions in a shopping trolley.
- Put your shopping bags in the boot of your car when doing shopping.
- Be alert when approached by another person who may be distracting you so their counterpart can steal from you.
- Do not allow your children to go to a public toilet on their own.
- Hold your smaller children by the hand as they may go missing in busy shopping malls.
Regarding children at shopping centres, Muthan issued the following advice:
- Educate your children on their residential address and parents/guardians telephone numbers
- Children should always stay close to their parents/guardians when shopping, never let them leave your sight
- Children should avoid dark and quiet/deserted places, and should never walk off on their own.
- It is essential to instil in a child the ability to say no when they are faced with an uncomfortable situation. There should be no shame in saying no.
Regarding safety at banks and ATMs, Muthan said:
- Be wary of people who try to lure you with stories that are too good to be true and only buy products on the Internet from reputable companies.
- Be careful of people who volunteer to assist you at the ATM.
- Do not believe the promises of easy money.
- Do not use repeat passwords for anything involving sensitive personal information.
- Avoid isolated ATMs and don’t use them late at night
- If you feel unsafe at an ATM or you are suspicious of individuals loitering in the vicinity, trust your instincts, go away and use another ATM.
- Never accept help from strangers when using an ATM.
- Don’t allow anyone to swipe your card on a small black device unknown to you.
- Never send emails that contain card numbers and expiry dates or disclose this information over the phone.
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