Cash withdrawal nightmare in Richards Bay
This warning comes after Richards Bay resident Sarel Ackerman had his bank account drained by someone who is suspected of stealing his card from under his nose at an ATM
BEWARE of lurkers hanging around ATMs, never look away from an ATM while executing a transaction and always seek a safe haven before counting withdrawn money.
This warning comes after Richards Bay resident Sarel Ackerman had his bank account drained by someone who is suspected of stealing his card from under his nose at an ATM.
‘It was on payday, 25 July at about 6.15am,’ said Ackerman.
‘I had just come off night shift and went to the petrol station opposite the hospital to withdraw cash.
‘I was tired and when the machine said it declined my card, I thought my card had been swallowed.
‘I then inserted my credit card to withdraw cash.’
Later in the day, when he went to a shop to buy some clothes, Ackerman’s debit card was declined owing to insufficient funds.
‘I knew I had money because I had just been paid.
‘So I went onto my banking app to check my account.’
It was then that Ackerman saw his bank account, including his flexisaver which cannot be easily withdrawn from at an ATM, had been drained of all funds.
‘I had received no SMS messages from my bank so had no idea that any funds had been withdrawn.
‘I went back to the petrol station to review the camera footage.
‘During the time I was at the ATM, two men came to the machine and it appears as if one of them swiped my card while I quickly looked away.’
Ackerman recalled that when the machine rejected his debit card, he turned to the people behind him to inform them of the problem.
‘It could have been then that the man quickly took my card from the ATM, which is why I thought the machine had swallowed it.’
A total of R36 000 has been illegally withdrawn from Ackerman’s bank account and he says his bank has shown no interest in reimbursing him or in conducting an investigation.
‘I want to know why I received no SMS messages despite so much money having been withdrawn, and I want to know how someone could have transferred money from my flexisaver into my transaction account before withdrawing.’
He has opened a case of theft at the Richards Bay Police Station.
Ackerman said there were four people in the ATM queue behind him and he is trying to find out if any of them suffered the same experience.
‘If anyone else was affected on the same day, please contact me on 071 8985694.’
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