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Introduction to ATM Fraud
ATM Fraud
has been with us since we first started
using them. Although it is not considered
one of the major frauds, it could have
devastating effects on the victims thereof.
A victim can loose an entire month’s salary
or hard earned savings. The most important
fact to remember is that criminals can
only access your bank account via an ATM
if they are in possession of your ATM
bankcard and your secret pin number. It
is therefore up to you to protect yourself
against ATM fraud.
The following tips
are intended to assist you in avoiding
becoming a victim of ATM fraud.
-
Do not
reveal your PIN to anyone.
-
Do not
keep your PIN and card together.
-
Make sure
that you are not observed when keying
in your PIN.
-
Key in
your PIN only when prompted to do so
by the screen.
-
Don't
let anyone distract or assist you when
you are using the ATM.
-
Make sure
the card in your possession is in fact
yours before and after a transaction.
-
Avoid
poorly lit ATM’s.
-
If only
one ATM is working in a specific area,
the others could have been sabotaged
to direct you to that one.
-
Do not
count your money at the ATM.
-
Lower
your daily and monthly withdrawal limits.
-
Cancel
your card immediately if it is lost,
stolen or retained by an ATM.
-
Immediately
report your lost or stolen cards to
your bank and police.
Techniques used to carry
out ATM crime
-
Card swapping
– where a customer’s ATM card is swapped
for another card without their knowledge
whilst undertaking an ATM transaction.
-
Card
jamming –
where an ATM machine card reader is
deliberately tampered with so that a
customer’s card will be held in the
card reader and cannot be removed from
the machine by the customer. The criminal
removes the card once the customer has
departed.
-
Vandalism
– where an ATM machine is deliberately
damaged and/or the card reader is jammed
preventing the customer’s card from
being inserted.
-
Physical attacks
– where an ATM machine is physically
attacked with the intention of removing
the cash content.
-
Mugging
– where a client is physically attacked
whilst in the process of conducting
a transaction at an ATM machine.
Source:
The Banking Council
- South Africa
5 Clever ATM Theft Scams and How To
Avoid Them
With more than 1.5 million ATM
machines around the world, most of us
simply take our ATM cards for granted.
Unfortunately, thieves know this and
use it to their advantage -- so ATM
theft is a big problem.
In
fact, as ATM banking technology
advances so too do the thieves. They
have become so clever in their crimes
that you may well not see them coming.
The good news is that there are easy
ways to protect yourself from ATM
theft. (Read
more...)
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