This follows a series of robberies over the past few months during which residents were robbed at gunpoint at their homes or business, after making a large withdrawal at the bank.
Police spokesperson W/O Madeleine von Wielligh said investigation has lead the police to the conclusion that people making large withdrawals, are closely observed by criminals pretending to do business inside the bank.

“You may find a person who had been in front of the tellers’ line, would suddenly and for no good reason leave the line and allow other people to move in front of him. He would be inside the bank for quite some time, repeating this behaviour. The purpose thereof is mainly to observe who are making large withdrawals,” she said.

W/O Von Wielligh cautioned residents however, not to over react on this information, but should suspect behaviour be noticed inside the bank, it should immediately be reported to a banking official or the police.
Another scam that has left many people robbed of their hard earned money, is online sales – especially the selling of secondhand vehicles on websites such as OLX, Gumtree and Junk Mail.

HAUX WARNING!

W/O Von Wielligh said the police are flooded with complaints where fake sellers would advertise a car at a bargain price online. Upon enquiry by interested buyers, the seller would say he already received a great response and requires a deposit of anything between R1 000 and R5 000 to ‘secure the deal’. The seller would even provide a fake address where the car can be viewed.

been hoaxed by fake online sellers.

“Once the money is deposited via electronic funds transfer (EFT) into his account, the seller ‘disappears’, never to be seen or heard of again,” W/O Von Wielligh said and advised buyers not to make any EFT payments until the vehicle has been properly inspected. It is also important to have a look at the vehicle’s registration papers in order to verify the details of the owner.

“When something seems too good to be true, it usually is,” she warned.