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Tourists targeted: 'Parking permit' scam hits Cape Town

Cape Town - ATM scammers targeting tourists in Cape Town, convincing drivers that they require a special 'street parking permit' payable via an ATM, within the Cape CBD.

The According to the Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) has issued a warning to all motorists regarding ATM fraud in the city.

READ: SA Victims of Crime survey: How hijackers, car thieves operate 

The scam has been uncovered by a task force specifically created by the Western Cape government to investigate the province’s increasing prevalence of ATM fraud. 

Muneeb Hendricks, CCID Safety and Security Department Manager, said: “We have found that, because fewer visitors appear to be using ATMs in public areas, the con-men are in turn devising new distraction techniques to draw people back to where they can conduct their scams. 

"One of the latest scams we’ve come across is the ‘special’ parking permits, or even permits to walk down a street where a film shoot is happening, to lure unsuspecting visitors to the ATMs these conmen know are not being as heavily monitored by security as other cash dispensers in the area.”

Hotspots for ATM scammers 

The most recent “hotspots” in the Central City, where ATMs were being hit:

Corner of Long and Hout streets
Long Street between Waterkant and Strand streets
Corner of Long and Leeuwen
Buitengracht between Mechau and Hans Strijdom streets
Lower Long Street
 

Hendricks also noted that the CCID was on average called to the scene of approximately 10 incidents of ATM fraud in the Central City each week.

Earlier in 2017, Wheels24 reported that Statistics South Africa had published its annual victims of crime survey (VOCS).

Click here for the full results

The survey of around 30 000 provides details of personal experiences of crime. It also covers how thieves break into cars and what time they strike their victims. The reporting period is of April 2015 to March 2016.

Click/slide the tables (left to right) to view statistics regarding vehicle-related crimes: If using a mobile device, view it in landscape to enlarge the tables below

Click here for the full results


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