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Customer protection strategies are at the forefront of banks’ efforts to curb ATMs and related crime, but to be effective, they require customers to also do everything they can to protect themselves, says Piet Swanepoel, chief risk officer. of African Bank.
ATMs are a favorite target for criminals simply because of their increased use and accessibility to customers, day and night.
Its modus operandi, Swanepoel said, involves various scams, such as shoulder surfing, stealing cards, exchanging cards and trapping cards inside ATMs.
As part of its Client Protection Program, African Bank offers information on how these scams work and how clients can avoid becoming victims:
1. Card exchange
- The perpetrators are groups of at least three criminals.
- The victim is distracted while the card is exchanged, usually after inserting their PIN number. One of the criminals will have examined the PIN before transferring the card.
- The victim leaves with someone else’s card, and criminals immediately use the stolen card to make purchases or withdraw money, before the victim realizes and has a chance to block their card.
2. Skimming:
- Victims are forced to swipe their cards through handheld devices at ATMs.
- A person claiming to be a bank employee approaches the victim and asks him to ‘reactivate’ his card by swiping it through the handheld device (the skimming device). This can happen before or after the customer has withdrawn money. There is often a second or third person hanging around the ATM, looking for the PIN.
- In some cases, the input slot of the ATM card reader is damaged. As the victim struggles to insert their card, the criminal will approach the victim and remove the card from the ATM, often escorting the victim to another ATM to attempt withdrawal. As they made their way to the second ATM, the criminal seizes the card and steals it.
- The original card is returned to the victim only to discover much later that money was withdrawn from their account.
3. ATM-mounted skimming:
- Most ATM tracking devices do not interfere with the ATM when used. These devices are created to look like a card reader slot and fit snugly over the slot, making them difficult to detect.
- A skimming device can also be mounted over the ATM card slot. The dummy reader in the skimming device acquires the data from the magnetic stripe and the PIN is compromised by a camera containing the skimming device that is installed in the mold.
Advice
- Carefully follow the instructions on the ATM screen.
- Be alert to your surroundings and go outside if you notice someone suspiciously loitering.
- After successful ATM transactions, please exit immediately.
- If your card doesn’t go in smoothly, don’t force it. Better get out of the ATM.
- If your card is swallowed, do not leave the ATM before you have canceled your card.
- Memorize your PIN, never write it down or share it with anyone.
- Enter your PIN yourself so that no one else can see it.
- Never allow anyone near you while using the ATM.
- Make sure they don’t follow you after withdrawing money from an ATM.
Read: Beware of These South African Bank Scams and Fraud Tactics
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