THE police in Richards Bay have warned members of the public to be vigilant when withdrawing cash from ATMs.

This after uMhlathuze councillor Tobias Gumede was recently defrauded of R8 000.

Gumede went to the Nedbank ATM outside the Lira Link branch in Richards Bay CBD and while attempting to withdraw funds, the machine would not proceed with the transaction.

‘An error kept appearing, indicating the wrong amount had been input, so I removed the card and went to the other ATM.

‘A man arrived at the machine I was having a problem with, but then suddenly leaned across and swiped something across the screen I was busy with, and walked off.

‘A SMS notification then came through on my phone, first indicating a withdrawal of R4 000, then a minute later another R4 000,’ Gumede said.

Richards Bay SAPS communications officer, Debbie Ferreira confirmed that ATM fraud cases have been reported and warns people against letting their guard down when using an ATM.

Guard against ATM fraud
Via its website, Nedbank confirms that various types of ATM fraud occur, namely card skimming, shoulder surfing and card swapping.
Card skimming is when a fraudster distracts you while you’re at the ATM. They remove your card and swipe it through a skimming device, returning it to the ATM without you knowing.
Shoulder surfing happens when someone stands close enough to watch you enter your PIN.
Card swapping is when a fraudster distracts you and swaps your card with one that looks like yours. It is always good practice to press the ‘cancel’ button on an ATM before inserting your card into the machine.

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