Police have warned tourists to the Lowveld and members of the public to be aware of scammers who pretend to be car guards and then withdraw money from their bank accounts.

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

Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdhluli says Hazyview police are investigating a case of theft after a Dutch tourist had money stolen from her bank 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 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 [get money to] pay for the parking ticket,” he says.

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 one of the men said he would assist her.

She later suspected something was wrong and checked her balance, only to notice that a large sum of money had been withdrawn from her account at a Shell garage.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,” says Mdhluli.

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

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 A few minutes later, he realised that a large amount of money had been withdrawn from his account.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

Mdhluli urges people not to allow anyone to assist them when they are withdrawing money from an ATM, saying they should be vigilant and make sure they are not being followed.

Parking is paid for at a machine at malls or the gate, so there is no reason to pay for additional parking tickets, as the scammers claimed.

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

Meanwhile, the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism’s COO, Linda Grimbeek, says 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.”