The police are warning the public and tourists to be vigilant of scammers pretending to be car guards, targeting motorists.

Two recent separate incidents saw overseas tourists in Hazyview and Graskop targeted and robbed of their money.

A provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Donald Mdhluli, said the Hazyview police are investigating a case of theft after a Dutch tourist had money stolen from her account at about 20:30 on November 5.

“The victim and her partner were coming out of a restaurant at Junction Mall, heading to their car in the parking lot. She was approached by an African male who pretended to be a car guard and informed her she had to pay in order to exit the mall at the gate. She did not have cash on her, but the suspect said she must go to an ATM to pay for the parking ticket,” he said.

According to Mdhluli, the unsuspecting tourists went to the ATM and the man followed them.

As she approached the ATM, she noticed two other men there. She inserted her card into the machine to withdraw money and the one man said he would assist her.

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“It was then she suspected something was wrong and decided to check her balance, only to notice that a large sum of money had been withdrawn from her account at a Shell garage. The woman managed to block her card using the app on her phone. She told the police she did not see the car the suspects used to flee the scene. A case of theft was opened at the Hazyview Police Station.”

In Graskop, a similar incident occurred when another tourist was robbed of his money after he was also told he needed to pay for a parking ticket.

As in the first instance, when he went to the ATM to withdraw the money, two other men at the machine tried to assist him. A few minutes later, he realised that a large amount of money was withdrawn from his account. A case of theft was opened at the Graskop Police Station.

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Mdhluli warned people not to allow anyone to assist them when they are withdrawing money from an ATM, and that they should be vigilant against being followed by strangers.

Parking is paid for at a machine at malls or at the gate, so there is no reason to pay for additional parking tickets, as those men claimed. Car guards will not force people to pay and they always wear reflector jackets. However, it is very easy to obtain a reflector jacket, so even that is no guarantee.

Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the perpetrators can call the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111 or send information via the My SAPS app.

Meanwhile, the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism’s COO, Linda Grimbeek, said: “The matter is being dealt with. We cannot give details, but we have taken this very seriously and acted swiftly. Our new camera system for Hazyview is also being installed, which will help