Retail Crossing Shopping Centre management has cautioned patrons to refrain from accepting assistance at the ATMs following the recent rash of machine scams at the centre.
Carina Pienaar from Bentel Group, the owners of Retail Crossing, said criminals are active at most ATM machines and the public has been warned not to accept any assistance from strangers or allow any person access to their bank cards or PIN codes.
The warning follows recent complaints from patrons who were allegedly scammed at an ATM in the centre adjacent to Virgin Active.
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A patron who came forward with her complaint told Northsider that she was scammed out of all the money in her account on 4 September after attempting to withdraw cash. She said they took R3 720, which was all she had in her account, and left her with 24 cents.
The patron, and other victims lamented on the issue on social media, while appealing to the shopping centre to beef up its security, especially near the ATMs.
Pienaar said Nogada SA, which is the contracted security company, was aware of an incident that occurred on 25 August. “Our investigations manager was on site to conduct a full investigation in this regard. An incident report was forwarded to centre management,” she said.
“Two incidents of ATM fraud at the Standard Bank ATM have been reported,” she explained.
She added that although the centre does not have dedicated staff to monitor the ATMs, the security staff has been instructed to be vigilant about the ATM fraudsters.
Read more: Woeful ATM scam at a local shopping centre
Pienaar commented on the difficulty of nabbing fraudsters. “It is in most cases very difficult to clearly identify ATM fraudsters, as they are well dressed and actually make legitimate transactions on the ATM machines where they target unsuspecting patrons.”
It was reported by a car guard in the centre, who has witnessed shoppers being preyed on, that the culprits jam the ATM and then allow the next person to use it, offer to assist that person. They read the individual’s information and use it at another ATM.
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