Absa Bank’s special investigations head Wayne Van Huyssteen has warned the Port Alfred public to be vigilant of con artists who are fleecing people of their hard-earned money.
Van Huysteen, a former policeman, took to the podium at the second instalment this year of the anti-fraud presentation at The Word of Truth Ministry auditorium on Thursday last week to highlight examples of the various fraud crimes being waged against the public.
“Never let your bank card out of your sight, and rather leave if you notice suspicious individuals at an ATM, he told the gathering. “And if you suspect something is not right while doing an ATM transaction, cancel it and leave the area.”
“So please be observant, vigilant and if something is not right rather move away.”
Van Huyssteen said bank clients were sometimes effecting transactions that could be deemed high risk. Citing an example, he said one such client recently tried to deposit R140k at an Absa ATM at a well-known mall in the province.
“Of course, it’s a major risk, but the bank offers the facility and the client decided to proceed with it,” he said.
“And as she was depositing her money these card [scammers] happened to be hanging around the ATM. Seeing the amount of money coming from out of her handbag one of them phoned their colleagues outside (as seen on the CCTV footage) and after they appeared they robbed her of R100k, as she had managed to deposit R40,000.”
He said Absa’s surveillance unit managed to track down and identify one of the suspects who was arrested.
“Syndicates do not stay in one specific area; they move around … they move across the Eastern Cape … we were informed that the suspects involved in the robbery were spotted in Peddie.
“We in the banking industry have identified close to 500 high profile individuals across the Eastern Cape involved in defrauding bank clients. One suspect involved in bank fraud is from a very wealthy family and probably didn’t need to be involved in these crimes, and was asked why he resorted to these crimes. Well he said it was ‘good money’ – he makes R140k a month from it. So one can see it is highly lucrative.
“There are lot of new faces [of suspects]… that make our task of apprehending them a difficult one.”
Alec McKerrow of the Port Alfred CPF asked Van Huytssteen from the floor if his Absa unit’s pictures of suspects could be shared with armed response security organisations such as Multi Security who can keep track of such information in case interventions were needed locally .
Said Van Huysteen: “With the Popia act it is difficult … we do share photos of the suspects’ faces if the SAPS gives us the go-ahead. For example in the ATM robbery case we shared photographs of the vehicle the suspects had used to various groups and it became a community manhunt ; and that was the only way we could arrest them. This manhunt stretched as far as Hankey, Patensie and Gqeberha which led to the arrests.”
Among the many types of fraudulent activity highlighted were thefts inside and outside banks, shoulder surfing where scammers assist clients at ATMs, before switching cards by sleight of hand and copying the details of bank cards through skimming devices while the victim’s attention was diverted.
“Other methods used is for a fraudster to spike a victim’s drink and then to rob them of their money.” Van Huysteen had said at his first talk that one client had been in hospital for seven days after such an incident.
Some of the types of fraud highlighted were smishing – use of fake mobile text messages asking clients to share sensitive information, phishing – an attempt by fraudsters to steal ID numbers, passwords or bank account information, and vishing – use of fraudulent phone calls to trick victims out of their money.
“Please, don’t ever click on those links with suspicious messages on your phones or laptops.”
He said especially elderly folk were easily conned by being distracted at ATMs.
“These criminals distract you at an ATM and while showing you what to do they get hold of your bank card. Meanwhile an accomplice was watching your pin you inserted and they walk away with your bank card and pin. The sad part is they drive around with point of sale devices and soon you could have R50,000 stolen from your account.”
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, September 5, 2024. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
