Business, police ready to tackle card fraud

By Bronwynne Jooste

Police are forming partnerships with restaurants and businesses in an effort to tackle the growing incidence of credit card fraud scams ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

The Western Cape Commercial Crime branch said it a had clear, solid plan in place for dealing with an influx of people for future big sporting events like the Africa Confederations Cup, the British Lions Tour, and the 2010 World Cup

Hundreds of thousands of foreigners are set to flock to major South African cities during the World Cup and police are putting measures in place to ensure that they don't fall prey to this type of crime.

Banks and police warn that credit card fraud in restaurants and internet cafes is increasing and they have embarked on awareness campaigns at these outlets.

Last year, staff at three internet cafes in the southern Cape were caught trying to steal customer's banking details, using spy software.

The owner of one cafe alerted police to suspicious behaviour by some employees, and software designed to pick up banking details was found. A check on the computer system found the software had been loaded at two other cafes in the region.

No arrests were made but the programs were removed. Police said the individuals thought to be responsible for installing the software did not return to work and were not subsequently apprehended.

In the same year, police exposed a credit card fraud syndicate at a Canal Walk, Cape Town, restaurant. Nine waiters were arrested for using skimming devices to defraud clients of undisclosed amounts of money.

Virgin Money agreed that card-skimming in restaurants was one of the biggest credit card fraud problems.

At a recent crime briefing, Superintendent Jerome Hardenberg said syndicates also paid hotel employees to get in on the scam.

"Much of it is dependent on inside jobs and it takes about five seconds to skim a card."

Surveillance footage of a credit card being skimmed showed employees at a cafe doing so while pretending to assist the customer.

He said police would be working with the hospitality industry and travel agent associations to devise strategies. They have already started presentations at different outlets providing information on credit card fraud.

They have also been discussing other commercial crime threats with the industry.

The police's national spokesperson on 2010 Superintendent Vish Naidoo said they would be able to devise more specific plans with the hospitality sector once they knew exactly which the participating countries were.

"Then we'll know what kind of volumes of people to expect."

The Southern African Fraud Prevention Service said it would host a board meeting in November to discuss plans for the hospitality industry and credit card fraud during the World Cup.

The organisation's spokesperson Pat Cunningham said they would be looking at plans to assist the many tourists set to visit the country in 2010.

But the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa said it was not fair to confine the crime blitz to the hospitality industry.

The association's national chairperson, Brett Dungan, said he would not be "drawn into a discussion involving credit card fraud and hotels".

"It's a form of crime that can affect all industries, but we will be open to the talks when the banks and police do come around," he said.

• This article was originally published on page 15 of The Cape Argus on September 21, 2008