Durban - South Africans have been warned to be cautious when stopping at tollgates during the festive season, after it emerged that credit card skimming is prevalent at these points.
The South African Banking Risk information Centre (SABRIC), which works in conjunction with South African Police Services (SAPS), said although there were strict security measures for employees at tollgates, credit card fraud was still taking place.
Booths at tollgates are normally higher than the cars and drivers cannot always see what is going on inside the booth. SAPS have advised road users to carry cash. If people are using their cards, they are being asked to be vigilant.
SABRIC released vital information on Tuesday about the state of credit card fraud in KwaZulu-Natal. The good news is credit card fraud financial losses decreased by 44 percent.
Last year, credit card fraud losses amounted to R39.6 million. In 2010, the amount stands at R22 million.
On a national level, the total banking industry's financial losses due to credit card fraud decreased by 36 percent, from R409.3 million to R263.8 million.
There has been a decrease in almost all forms of credit card fraud in KZN. However, credit card fraud via the internet, mail orders and telephone - where the physical presence of the card is not required when making transactions - has increased by 22 percent.
"It appears that as more clients are provided with PIN cards, perpetrators are now focusing their efforts on this type of fraud. The banks have already begun looking into measures to mitigate the threat posed by this form of fraud," said SABRIC's general manager, Susan Potgieter.
Credit card fraud is still taking place in restaurants, fast food establishments and stores across parts of the province including Durban, Pinetown, Westville and Pietermaritzburg. Now Stanger and Tongaat are also added to that list.
"It is not unusual for perpetrators to seek other avenues for their scams once they realise that measures that have been put in place in certain areas are effective," said Potgieter.
The public have been asked to follow their credit cards when using them in stores and garages to ensure they are being swiped only at legitimate machines.
Police and bank investigators have retrieved seven percent of handheld skimming devices in the province. They urged the public to continue providing information about such devices to combat this problem.
"There is an increasing prevalence of devices that are mounted onto ATMs and which are not easily detectible by unsuspecting ATM users. Bank clients are also urged to famaliarise themselves with their bank ATMs in order to be able to detect any foreign objects attached to them," said Potgieter.
