
FNB at Pine Crest Centre has stationed a security guard at their ATMs after a Pinetown resident was robbed of her ATM card recently.
The resident, who only wanted to be known as Ms Gopal, told the Highway Mail on the day of the robbery that she was followed into the ATM enclosure on the second level at the Pine Crest Centre. After she had put in her pin the man behind her mumbled that her bank would charge her double, and as she tried to protest the man leaned over her, cancelled her transaction and stole her card.
“He took my card within a matter of seconds,” said Gopal.
Gopal complained that there were no security guards anywhere near the ATM’s. “I had to run and look for a security guard after my card was stolen. There are never any guards stationed at the door, or in the parking lots. I finally found a security guard near Clicks,” added Gopal.
According to Gopal the security guard told her to report the incident at the bank and to cancel her cards . She then also requested to see the manager and the security guard took her to the security control room.
“When I reported the incident to the security manager he wrote down my report and information on a sticky note. He told me that he would get back to me, but never did. I feel like he did not take my case very seriously,” said Gopal.
“ATM fraud is not unique to Pine Crest Centre. The safety of shoppers is of utmost importance to the centre and thus we have a close relationship with the SAPS and assist in all investigations. In a recent ATM incident at the centre, security did apprehended the culprit, where the card and money was returned to the shopper,” said Donald McLellan, the marketing manager for Pine Crest and Pine Walk Centres.
FNB Banking Channels spokesman, Aziz Cassim, told the Highway Mail that they are very concerned about crimes such as card skimming at ATMs.
“The bank has a dedicated investigation team for this purpose, and this team has escalated the Pine Crest Centre incident to the SAPS,” said Cassim.
FNB urges its customers to never accept assistance from strangers at an ATM and to leave the area if they feel unsafe. We also ask that the public reports incidents and attempted crimes to FNB’s fraud prevention number is 087 575 9444.