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Employee charged with fraud AN EMPLOYEE of the Friendly 7/11 Convenience Store in Camps Bay has been charged with fraud after she allegedly supplied information about customers’ bank cards to fraudsters, who then had the cards cloned. The employee will appear in court along with another woman and a man, on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 March. Store owner Anita Reichlin informed police that clients were complaining about unauthorised transactions on their accounts, while they were in possession of their cards, after they had used it at the shop. She told police that she suspected a female employee. When police questioned the worker she admitted that she had written down the details of clients’ cards and given them to her coaccused. On searching the employee, police found folded pieces of paper with handwritten card numbers. Police found more merchant slips of Friendly 7/11 Camps Bay at the co-accused’s home. The woman told police that she passed the slips on to a man, who pays her for the information.
Tuesday 8 March 2011
Tel: 021 713 9440 Fax: 021 713 9481
The Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA) is presenting What a Wonderful World at the Art scape Theatre from Friday 4 March until Sunday 13 March. The production is directed by Deb bie Turner, in collaboration with Jacqui Pells and Nathalie Vijver. The performance showcases 175 talented young dancers from the ages of five to 25 in a production that explores global cultures and events through ballet, modern, hip hop, tap, drama and song. Tickets are available from Com puticket and range from R75 to R150. For more information call 083 915 8000.
Taking flight
ATM card scam hits garage VERNA VAN DIEMEN
A
SEA POINT woman claims she was duped out of R17 500 after she withdrew money from an ATM inside the store at Sea Point Regent Road BP. Management at President Motors has confirmed that they have received a number of complaints from customers about “unusual withdrawals” from their bank accounts after using the ATM inside the garage shop, and were working closely with police and the bank fraud squad to catch these criminals. Sea Point Police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Bheki Xulu, said there had been an increase in card cloning cases at various ATMs across the seaboard. Standard Bank refused to confirm whether the Regent Road BP ATM was a problem. It is believed the cards are being skimmed at the ATM inside the convenience store at the BP petrol station, cloned, and then used by thieves in other areas across Cape Town. A staff member, who did not want to be named, said: “We know about it. There have been one or two complaints lately. I cannot say exactly how much but it has been going on for
years.” Owner of President Motors, Rob Shaw, said police believed there was a syndicate operating in the area, but could not confirm this. The Sea Point resident who had thousands plundered from her account said she wants to remain anonymous. She suspects it happened at the ATM on Monday 7 February. The fraudsters did not use her card immediately. Instead they made a number of withdrawals from Friday 11 February to Friday 18 February between midnight and 04:00 at ATMs in Khayelitsha, Strandfontein and Langa. The businesswoman said she became suspicious when she tried to withdraw money at an ATM and received an “insufficient funds” notice. “It was strange because there were days when I could draw money and days when I could not because I had supposedly gone over my daily limit. I do not have the time to check my statements every day,” she said. It was on the day after the thieves had cleaned out her account that she realised what was happening. “I tried to withdraw on Saturday (19 February) and discovered that there was no money in my account.” The woman “went into shock”.
“I had to get into a cold bath and I lost my voice,” she said. She traced the transaction back to the BP garage when a man who overheard her talking about the incident at a pharmacy in Sea Point said that the same thing had happened to him about two years ago after he withdrew money from the same ATM. She immediately went to the garage, but says the owners told her to “sort it out”. “They were not even surprised and they did not report the incident to the police,” she said. Shaw said they had reported the matter to the Standard Bank fraud squad but it was the customer’s duty to call the police. Absa has reimbursed all the money the woman has lost but it is little consolation, says the woman. Shaw said they have done everything in their power to safeguard the ATM. “It goes further than us having the ATM enclosed, encouraging people to lock the ATM door behind them and putting up signage warning people to be vigilant and not to allow strangers near them while withdrawing money.” “We have also been working with the police to set traps for these criminals.”
He said that often when they review camera footage they see how brazen fraudsters walk into the ATM booth while people are withdrawing money. “Elderly people are vulnerable. There are 16 surveillance cameras to watch on the premises. Although the shop is open 24/7 we cannot watch the ATM all the time.” Jan Kruger, head of Fraud Management at Absa, said the only reasonabble explanation for the incident was that a hand-held skimming device was used to duplicate the encoded account details from the client’s card onto another. The fraudsters usually distract the customer, swipe the card through a hand-held skimming device and place the card back into the ATM without the customer knowing what has happened. The woman said she was not distracted and cannot fathom how they skimmed her card. Michelle Marsh, Media Relations Manager from Standard Bank would not disclose whether the bank had received a number of complaints about the specific ATM. “Information on specific instances of fraud cannot be shared with the public as this poses a security risk and jeopardises customer confidentiality,” she said.
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