Woeful ATM scam at a local shopping centre
ATM scam left victim with 24 cents.
A shattered patron is appealing to a local shopping centre to beef up its security, especially near the ATMs, after falling victim to a scam.
This regular shopper, who asked to remain anonymous, told Northsider that she scammed out of all the money in her account on 4 September after attempting to withdraw cash from an ATM at Retail Crossing.
“They took R3 720 which was all I had in my account and left 24 cents,” the shopper cried.
The complainant said she had been assisted by a man at the ATM after her transaction failed.
She added that the man at the ATM was wearing business clothes He intervened after the ATM had jammed with her card in it. “The card came out after his assistance, but by then he had already done a balance check and later withdrew all the money,” she explained.
The complainant alleged she was refused access to the CCTV footage when she wanted to see how the incident had occurred and also when she wanted to trace the suspects.
Also Read: Be alert when using an ATM
She further alleged that the same thing happened to another patron a few days later, leading her to believe that these scams are perpetrated by a syndicate.
She said her matter has been reported to the police and her bank’s fraud department.
When the Northsider visited the ATM, which is located close to a gym in the centre, a car guard indicated that he was aware of the scams and had seen the culprits on a few occasions.
The car guard alleged that the suspects use a 50 cent coin to jam the machine and while the victim is in shock, they offer to assist. That’s when they read all the information on the victim’s card and withdraw the money elsewhere.
The centre’s portfolio manager, Rene Blankers, said this was the first time she’d been told about such an incident.
She added that the matter would be referred to centre security. “We will bring this to the attention of the security team at the centre and request them to be vigilant in curbing this activity,” she said.
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