Discovery Bank has warned South Africans that criminals are targeting customers at ATMs across the country \u2013 especially in shopping malls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bank issued a fraud alert to its customers last week, notifying them of the latest scams used by criminals and their targets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The alert noted that the bank had flagged a spike in ATM fraud. Discovery explained that fraudsters are targeting ATMs to steal cards or card data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The alert warned of two tactics used by these criminals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To help you avoid becoming a victim, Discovery Bank urged banking customers to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other scams to watch out for<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, Discovery Bank also warned consumers of other online scams to look out for – including fraudsters impersonating the banks, the \u201cpost office scam\u201d, and \u201cthe loyalty programmes scam\u201c.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first scam involves criminals posing as banks and informing the victim of a fraudulent transaction. The victim is asked to provide their account details to reverse the transaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second scam targets people waiting for a package at the South African Post Office. The fraudsters claim that a fee needs to be paid to clear the package for delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The third scam is a new one and involves loyalty programme fraud. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the bank, there have been reports of scammers taking advantage of the popularity of loyalty programmes by sending fraudulent messages to customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These messages falsely claim that the customer’s loyalty programme points are on the verge of expiring, and to redeem them, they must follow a link provided in the message. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The bank advises customers to be cautious of such messages and verify their authenticity before taking action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n