Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has urged residents and visitors to be vigilant when approaching an ATM.
According to the mayoral committee member for safety and security, Alderman JP Smith, last week, an undercover team was assembled to curb the rise of ATM crimes.
“Early one morning last week, we assembled an undercover team ranging from Metro Police, Traffic Services, Law Enforcement, Ghost Squad members, along with members from our SSIMS department, SSIU, and from our Tourism Unit.
“This was done in conjunction with the private banking sector to curb the drastic rise of ATM crimes,” Smith said.
He said a trial operation was conducted focusing on several ATMs in and around the Cape Town central business district (CBD), where the banking sector utilised specialised technology to immediately identify incidents of crime, including card theft or card swapping.
“Using our broader range of community surveillance technologies and our operational advantage, we pooled our various resources.
“The initial operation was a great success, as we were able to draw upon a significant legal resource within the private banking sector.
“This will now help us to share information better across structures while formulating better procedures and protocols for the arrest and prosecution of the criminals operating within the sector.
“Most alarming was to discover, not only are tourists victims of this modus operandi but, in fact, according to the private banking sector, also readily occurring even in the suburbs and the shopping centres close to informal settlements,” Smith said.
He has also shared tips to protect yourself from becoming a victim:
Stay alert when approaching an ATM
Do not be fooled by any person with any excuse trying to approach you - it is believed they leave their transaction receipt in the ATM machine and approach you as soon as you have entered your card.
Make sure there is no receipt hanging from the machine before you enter your ATM card.
If you get approached while busy with a transaction, immediately press the cancel button, take your card and walk away. Head to the nearest shop to gather assistance.
Do not fall for people posing as security guards, even if they have radios or hats (having apparel which states ‘security’ is a comment trait in gaining trust from victims).
“Thank you to the Standard Bank Tactical Operations unit for reaching out to us. We look forward to a close relationship with the private banking sector in the future as we help bring these criminal syndicates to book,” Smith said.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL