A local resident was at the ATMs in the Pick ‘n Pay Centre recently and within seconds, he would lose R6500 because he did not know how a new feature worked.

 A man approached him, telling him the ATM was not working but that he had figured out how to make the stupid thing work…

The local resident was confronted with a screen he had never seen before at an ATM; nothing he did would remove the screen. The Good Samaritan then offered his help, pressing a few keys and buttons at the same time, secretly removing the man’s bank card and leaving him back at the same screen again. He told him it was fixed and all he needed to do was enter his pin…

Within a 10-minute period of this happening, the local resident lost R6500 – R3000 drawn at another ATM and another R3500 swiped at a bottle store in town.

So how does this scam work?

ATM Safety:

Remember to always be cautious at an ATM and assume that anyone helping you wants to steal you blind.

This is how it works… A person will be in front of you withdrawing cash from the ATM or pretending to be – you won’t notice, as all seems and looks normal. After all, that’s what people do at an ATM, right? What you don’t know is you are now being set up.

The guy in front of you has put the ATM on instant cash and has then stepped away and turned as if to count something. Okay, it’s your turn now. It is at this very moment that the scammers will be able to tell if you are an easy mark or someone to ignore.

If you get to the ATM and simply cancel the instant cash page on the screen before inserting your card and then proceed to draw money, you’ve shown the would-be scammers you are aware of all the new bank apps and functions at the ATM. They will leave you alone. Offering to help you would draw suspicion.

If you just walk up, put your card in and start pressing buttons only to later look down and not realise what you’ve just done, it’s a clear sign you don’t know what’s going on and now there is room to offer assistance. A simple line like “oh, this ATM is giving problems, you must do this” is all it takes for him / her to be in your personal space and pressing buttons on the screen. While trying to watch what he / she does, your view of the card insert will be blocked (as most ATM machines now have touch screens and buttons on the side of the screens), as well as your view of the lower keypad (as your attention will be on the screen).

It is in this time that your card will be removed from the ATM, and all the buttons he / she has pressed in order to help you have only led back to the instant cash screen, to which he / she will reply, “okay, now it’s right, now you can put in your pin” and then move on to the exit.

Because he moves away, your instinct that something is wrong is not firing as it should.

Now it’s time for the second scammer, who normally is behind you next in line. His job is to watch what digits you enter. The only effort this takes is checking your screen as you are still on the instant cash screen, so all those secret numbers you press on the keypad are now visible on the screen. The reason for this is that instant cash uses a cell-phone number as a reference.

So once again you’ve unknowingly given away a vital piece of information and lost your card, which you still think is in the ATM.
Your pin has just been texted to scammer 1, who has already jumped in a vehicle and started making his way to another ATM. At this stage, you do not realise anything is wrong.

But you are still unsure, as you’ve been told the machine is faulty and you’re unfamiliar with the screen in front of you. If scammer 2 doesn’t have your number by now, you’ll be offered assistance once again. Now you believe you are doing something wrong, because two people have had to help you. Once again, you are at the instant cash screen. You re-enter your pin, your pin is verified and he / she heads for the exit.

A total of 3 to 5 minutes have passed since your card has been taken. The slip you’ve recieved says 0.00, you wait for your card, but nothing comes out. Now you’re confused… Has the bank taken my card, what’s going on? You get a message on your phone and it says you have just drawn your daily limit at a completely different bank a couple of kilometres away.

Time to stop the card. Most banks have done away with stop cards and you’re at a disadvantage as you don’t know how to use the ATM like you should. It’s time to make a phone call in order to stop your card, so you had better have airtime and know your ID number – this call is not free!

The longer you take, the more you lose. In a time span of 5 to 15 minutes, you can lose your daily limit, which for some people is huge, as well as your swipe limit, as this is a whole other limit, usually being more than your daily limit.

Advice:

Have your bank card cancellation number on your phone.

Spend a few extra minutes at the ATM, viewing and opening all the new options you have. Make sure you have banking notification SMS or email.

Take a young / old family member or friend and give them a quick education at the bank on all the new options to let them see what it looks like – how you get there and how you exit.