POLOKWANE – What started off as a normal Friday morning for the 50-year-old domestic worker, turned out to be a nightmare, after her account was cleaned out by thieves.

Read more: SAPS investigating several cases of ATM theft

Review received the following first hand account from the woman:

“I inserted my card and pin and the card was ejected. A man came up behind me and told me it (the ATM) is working. “Try again Mama,” he told me. I inserted the card again and the man was still standing behind me. It went through and I clicked the screen for my savings. The ATM started to flash quickly and the man moved next to me and said “try again mama”. The card then came out and he took it very quickly. He then put in another card and pressed buttons. When I looked again, he was running to a car – a small dark blue turquoise car. It was a Black man with light skin. He got into the car and drove away. I then ran to another ATM and phoned the emergency number. The woman on the line asked for my ID and she told me all the money was going out of my account.”

Read more: Another ATM scam victim comes forward

Review spoke to Thornhill Centre Manager, Koerie Muller, who apologised for the incident and urged customers to be vigilant.

“As we enter the silly season, we urge customers to please be aware. Please do not allow people to help you at the ATM’s,” she said.

Muller says the centre work closely with police who, she says, are very involved with safety at the centre.

“The police have been assisting us a lot and they are very involved. We constantly circulate pictures to our security guards and car guards. We urge people to make us aware of any theft or incidents that occur,” she concluded.

The woman was in the process of reporting the matter to the centre and the police.

raeesak@nmgroup.co.za