ATM fraudsters apprehended
2007-01-25
Lise Beyers
A POSSIBLE ATM fraud sindicate has been exposed in Franschhoek after two people were arrested in connection with debit card fraud.
There have been numerous cases in Franschhoek, where especially tourists have fallen prey to these criminals.
Their modus operandi is to distract people when they are in the process of withdrawing money at an ATM. They then make a duplicate card by swiping it through a hand held device which reads all the card holder's details.
The unsuspecting card holders only later realises that money has disappeared from their account.
On Monday 15 January a tourist fell prey to these fraudsters and later it was established that R7000 had been embezzled from the bank account.
Last Sunday observant security guards, Jaftha Fisher and Lulu Seyisi, noticed two suspicious people who were trying to distract a client at an ATM at Pick ’n Pay.
The suspects were apprehended and positively identified with the previous ATM incident.
A hand-held swiping machine with which cards are duplicated was found in their possession.
After further investigation it is suspected that the suspects have been involved in other high profile ATM fraud cases throughout the Western Cape.
Both suspects are from Gugulethu and are still in custody in Franschhoek.
Last year a Paarlite fell prey to such fraudsters who stole her whole salary in November.
Sonja Nel was distracted when requesting a statement at an ATM in Paarl North. A few days later she was horrified to realise that her bank account had been drained.
It was established that money had been drawn from her account in various areas of the Peninsula such as Langa, Athlone and Wynberg.
After further investigation her bank declared that she had indeed fallen prey to fraudsters and all her money was returned to her.
More
News
|
