Police visibility to increase this festive season

WITH the start of the festive season, opportunities to commit crime will increase. Festive crime has been on the rise over the last few years with crime trends such as business robberies, robberies on persons, car-jacking and other serious crimes.

Pinetown SAPS have appealed to the public to be wary and not fall victim to crime trends.

Pinetown SAPS station commander Brigadier Leon Matthysen asked people to be aware of the money-dropping scam which also seems to have surfaced and has increased drastically.

“The money-dropping scam is taking place in the CBD in the vicinity of Kings Road and other ATMs. The community should not entertain those scammers who drop money on the floor with the intention to rob the victims of their hard-earned money,” said Matthysen.

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Scammers consist of six people, including females, who mostly target a person who has just drawn money from a bank and then they follow the person until they see someone ‘accidentally’ dropping money contained in a plastic bank bag.

“The unsuspecting victim would then be approached by another criminal who convinces them to pick up the money bag and go to a secluded part of town where it can be shared equally between the two.

“The victim then follows the person, and once in a secluded place, they count the money to share. However, while counting, a vehicle approaches the victims who notice them to be dressed in police uniform, thereby identifying themselves as police officers, also producing appointment cards.

“They then do a body search of the ‘counters’ before telling them to get into the vehicle, which is then driven to an area outside town where the victim is robbed of their valuables,” said the station commander.

He also said that recently there has been an influx of fraud cases.

“The popular one is a person gets a phone call or an SMS from a scammer claiming there is fraudulent activity on their account.”

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The victim would log in to their online banking to check the activity on their account. The scammer would then ask the victim for their OTP, which has been sent by the bank, and they would transfer the funds from the victim’s account.

Matthysen said they usually prey on elderly or retired people. He said people should be on alert and never share their OTP numbers.

People should be aware that banks will never call you from a normal cellphone number, and if they receive an SMS from a normal cellphone number, that is definitely suspicious.

“People should call their bank whenever they get a call from someone claiming to be calling from your bank,” he said.

Pinetown SAPS also warned the public to stop paying for items advertised on social media without seeing them first and being 100% sure they will get the items paid for.

“If the deal seems too good to be true, it probably is,” said Matthysen.

Due to the nature of these cases, investigation is often hampered since the suspects in most cases cannot be identified.

Public urged to report crime cases

Asked about the increase in business robberies in Westmead and house break-ins in the Ashley area, Matthysen said police were aware of the business robberies and have made arrests.

“Regarding the house break-ins in the Ashley area, we have arrested two people, but it’s important that the community reports all crime. Contingency plans are in the process of being implemented to counteract these criminal activities.

Communications officer Jennifer Naidu urged people to open cases so the police are also aware of the crimes in the areas, to ensure proper planning and effective policing.

According to Naidu, robberies on persons are a concern in the Pinetown CBD.

She urged motorists to close their car windows, especially at intersections.

“With the festive season upon us, people should refrain from carrying large sums of money. We appeal to stokvel people to transfer the money into accounts instead of drawing out large sums,” she said.

Matthysen assured the public that police visibility will increase during the festive period.

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