AT last week’s community imbizo hosted by the Durban North police station Captain Tracy Mey, commander of the Crime Information Management and Analysis Centre (CIMAC), highlighted the various crime trends being experienced across the precinct.

Mey, who discussed crime trends, highlighted property-related crimes, including theft out of motor vehicles and scams.

“We are still seeing criminals targeting residents at malls and at gyms. It’s not just one mall. The criminals are specifically targeting electronic goods like laptops and cellphones,” she explained.

Also read: Durban North police investigate stolen vehicle recovered on N2

In January this year the station issued a warning over the crime, saying criminals were using a Bluetooth scanning device in order to detect electronic devices left in vehicles.

“We’ve noticed that victims who’ve had their laptops stolen have not turned their devices completely off, they either put them into sleep mode and don’t switch off their Bluetooth connections. Hence why the criminals have targeted them,” she said.

Mey also revealed that around 60% of fraud cases reported to the station are related to online scams.

Also read: Suspect arrested after assault at Durban North shopping centre

“The most common scam currently is the bank scam where the suspects pose as bank officials. They will concoct a story asking you to provide confidential information. In some cases, they allege there’s an issue with your account and they need your banking details and Pin to rectify the issue.

“It sounds legitimate, they have official-looking letterheads or numbers registered fraudulently. Another scam we are seeing more of is the competition scam, where residents are contacted and told they’ve won a competition, however, in order to claim their prize they have to pay for it, which is a big red flag. There should be no pre-payment to claim a prize,” she said.

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