Gauteng is the province where most of the illegal electronic bank card and ATM skimming devices - used to defraud consumers - are being seized by police and banking security officials.Kalyani Pillay‚ CEO of the South African Banking Risk Information Centre‚ told TMG Digital on Thursday that card skimming is a global problem‚ and “unfortunately the greatest vulnerability lies with the individual”.Authorities seized 35 hand-held card skimming devices in 2015 and 13 in the first quarter of 2016 across all provinces. In addition‚ 54 high-tech ATM card skimming devices were seized in 2015‚ and eight more in the first quarter of 2016‚ she said.Sophisticated ATM crooks prompt ‘Stash it‚ don’t flash it’ campaignATM fraudsters in Cape Town’s CBD are more “sophisticated than the standard‚ pushy one-person approach of ‘let me help you draw money’ ” The majority of both types of devices were seized in Gauteng‚ but six ATM skimmers were found in Mpumalanga in the first quarter of 2016.“Card skimming is a crime that is essentially a global issue. Unfortunately the greatest vulnerability lies with the individual‚” Pillay said.Earlier this week‚ TMG Digital reported that a waiter wrestled with two police officers for nearly 15 minutes before they managed to arrest and take him into custody for allegedly using an illegal card skimming device to siphon R60 000 from the bank account of a customer dining at the trendy Café Caprice in Camps Bay. Ishmail Sulaiman’s alleged modus operandi‚ captured on CCTV cameras at the restaurant‚ was laid bare during his bail application at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.State prosecutor Robin Lewis said: “The (victim) had dined at the restaurant‚ he then requested the bill. (Sulaiman) then approached the table and the card was swiped on two occasions using an electronic device. On both occasions the transaction was unsuccessful.“A few days later‚ the witness discovered that numerous transactions had been made from his account and the amount of plus-minus R60 000 had been withdrawn‚” Lewis told the court.Pillay said consumers could protect themselves from this particular crime by ensuring that the keypad of the device or ATM was completely covered when entering a PIN during a card transaction.“I cannot stress to you enough‚ that you need to protect your PIN whenever and wherever you use your card. They keypad must be covered‚” she said.“The hand-held device replicates the information from the magnetic strip on your card. Similarly‚ a tiny device can be placed within the card slot of the ATM and your information can be retrieved that way. A tiny camera is then also placed and disguised somewhere around the ATM as a means of retrieving PIN details.“The fraud or theft cannot take place without your PIN‚ so it is absolutely important that you protect those details‚” she said.South Africans‚ she added‚ should never feel ashamed or shy to hide their PIN details when using cards for payment transactions.“You are well within your rights to keep your information private. Sometimes we feel shy to turn away from the cashier when entering our PINs‚ but we must not. Unfortunately‚ you cannot trust everyone‚” she said.To avoid being scammed at an ATM‚ Pillay suggested:Always cover the keypad when typing in your pin;Ask other ATM users to stand further back if you feel they are too close;Be aware of “shoulder surfing”; andDo not be distracted when using the ATM and do not let your card out of your sight – there have been cases where hand-held devices have been used for skimming when an individual is using an ATM;When making a card payment:Ensure that your card is visible at all times; andAsk to insert your card into the device yourself...