Those using ATMs have been warned to be extra vigilant following a spike in the number of ‘scamming’ incidents at the machines.

This afternoon a man was scammed out of around R2 000 when his card was tampered with by a conman at the ABSA machine at the Dundee Boulevard Centre.

This follows two incidents last week: A woman had R4 000 withdrawn from her account when a man at the ABSA ATMs approached her on Wednesday evening. It appears as if the man had managed to skim the details off her bank card while pretending to assist her.

On Friday afternoon, a man had to react quickly to fend off the attentions of another man who also wanted ‘to assist him’ to withdraw money at the Standard Bank ATM at Jeff’s Service Station. He managed to walk away before the conman could access his details from his bankcard.

A hand-held skimming device easily downloads personal information from a bankcard which allows access to your account number.

“Do not allow anyone to handle your bankcard while at an ATM – be vigilant,” police warned.