14 Nov 2016

Criminals have invented a method of stealing people’s hard earned cash.

With this method, it takes them few seconds to do their unscrupulous work.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Kanye recently, Assistant Superintendent David Nlebgwa of Kanye police encouraged residents to be on high alert.

He said the unscrupulous people usually observed the public and waited on the queue at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to offer assistance where it seemed necessary, only to memorise the personal identification number (PIN) and swap the cards afterwards while distracting victims.

Since one would have already given false hearted people their PIN, it would become easier for them to withdraw all the money at a later stage, he said.

He said the scam, which started last December, was rife around shopping complexes.

Superintendent Nlebgwa said such criminals usually targeted older people not familiar with ATMs and rarely targeted the youth.

Victims, he said, usually reported after a long time after discovering that their bank cards were tampered with.

He said lack of closed-circuit television, also known as video surveillance, around malls made it difficult to trace thieves, adding that no arrests had been made yet.

He therefore advised members of the public to seek assistance from bank employees such as security guards, not strangerds.

He further advised them to register for cellphone banking so that they could monitor their transactions.

On other issues, he told Kanye residents that community policing was very critical in bringing those caught on the wrong side of the law to book and ensuring justice is done. ends