Tourists targeted with credit card cloning

A CREDIT card information theft gang is targeting tourists in Namibia, the Federation of Namibian Tourism Associations (Fenata) cautioned this week.

Tourists should be advised never to let their credit cards out of their sight, Fenata has warned in the wake of the arrest of a tourism company employee in connection with the alleged theft of credit card information that is then used to defraud the card holder and credit card company by using a cloned card to make payments for goods in Namibia. In a statement sent out on Monday, Fenata raised the alarm about the appearance of a credit card scanning device in Namibia that is claimed to be used by a gang that has been targeting tourists and their credit cards in the country.Described as “a black, hand-held credit card swiping device”, Fenata stated these have “been used on the front desk of lodges in Namibia to copy the information from the back of the clients’ credit card into the data storage centre of this device.”This scanning device or ‘box’ is then handed to other members of the gang to be imprinted onto actual credit cards, using yet another machine.These cards are then used by gang members to buy various items or withdraw cash in some cases,” it was explained.According to nature park and lodge operators Gondwana Collection Namibia, a German tourist who visited Namibia about four weeks ago contacted the company two weeks ago about irregularities that he had noticed on his credit card account after his return to Germany.The only time that the tourist had used his credit card in Namibia was at Gondwana’s Kalahari Anib Lodge northeast of Mariental.The record of his card account however showed that the card had been used to make several payments in Namibia.With the card having been used only at Kalahari Anib Lodge, it was deduced that the card must have been cloned there.Shortly after this report had been made to Gondwana, a similar complaint was also made to the group.With an investigation launched, two employees of the lodge who handled credit card payments were summoned to Gondwana’s head office in Windhoek for interrogation by the Police and Gondwana Managing Director Manfred Goldbeck.A third staff member was taken into police custody at the lodge, Gondwana spokesperson Sven-Eric Kanzler announced on Wednesday.According to Kanzler it became apparent during the interrogation that not only Gondwana but several other tourism establishments, including rest camps of Namibia Wildlife Resorts in the Etosha National Park and at Waterberg, had been affected.A breakthrough was made when one of the scanning devices was found in a staff member’s room at Kalahari Anib Lodge, it was stated.About 20 of these devices are supposed to be in circulation in tourism establishments, Kanzler stated.”According to the statements of those interrogated, a syndicate is behind this credit card scam,” Kanzler stated.”Following a method successfully used in other countries, it has been in operation within the tourism sector for the last two months and is made up of several teams.Members of the ‘recruitment team’ drive through the country and approach staff who work with foreign clients and handle credit card payments.”The ‘recruiters’ persuade staff to collect required information from the credit cards of their clients and hand it over to a contact person at a later stage.The recruiters win co-operation by impressing staff members with expensive clothes, watches or even cars and tempting them with a promise of a better life, often offering five-figure rewards.”As far as is known, the scam has so far resulted in damage of more than a million Namibia dollars, according Gondwana.Kanzler stated that Gondwana staff members handling credit cards have been instructed that they may not under any circumstances take hold of any credit cards, and that the swiping of cards must be done by clients themselves.A 29-year-old suspect, Generation Basson, appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in connection with the alleged scam on Monday.Facing a charge of fraud, alternatively theft, Basson was granted bail of N$5 000.He has to appear in court again on January 20.In a statement sent out on Monday, Fenata raised the alarm about the appearance of a credit card scanning device in Namibia that is claimed to be used by a gang that has been targeting tourists and their credit cards in the country.Described as “a black, hand-held credit card swiping device”, Fenata stated these have “been used on the front desk of lodges in Namibia to copy the information from the back of the clients’ credit card into the data storage centre of this device.”This scanning device or ‘box’ is then handed to other members of the gang to be imprinted onto actual credit cards, using yet another machine.These cards are then used by gang members to buy various items or withdraw cash in some cases,” it was explained.According to nature park and lodge operators Gondwana Collection Namibia, a German tourist who visited Namibia about four weeks ago contacted the company two weeks ago about irregularities that he had noticed on his credit card account after his return to Germany.The only time that the tourist had used his credit card in Namibia was at Gondwana’s Kalahari Anib Lodge northeast of Mariental.The record of his card account however showed that the card had been used to make several payments in Namibia.With the card having been used only at Kalahari Anib Lodge, it was deduced that the card must have been cloned there.Shortly after this report had been made to Gondwana, a similar complaint was also made to the group.With an investigation launched, two employees of the lodge who handled credit card payments were summoned to Gondwana’s head office in Windhoek for interrogation by the Police and Gondwana Managing Director Manfred Goldbeck.A third staff member was taken into police custody at the lodge, Gondwana spokesperson Sven-Eric Kanzler announced on Wednesday.According to Kanzler it became apparent during the interrogation that not only Gondwana but several other tourism establishments, including rest camps of Namibia Wildlife Resorts in the Etosha National Park and at Waterberg, had been affected.A breakthrough was made when one of the scanning devices was found in a staff member’s room at Kalahari Anib Lodge, it was stated.About 20 of these devices are supposed to be in circulation in tourism establishments, Kanzler stated.”According to the statements of those interrogated, a syndicate is behind this credit card scam,” Kanzler stated.”Following a method successfully used in other countries, it has been in operation within the tourism sector for the last two months and is made up of several teams.Members of the ‘recruitment team’ drive through the country and approach staff who work with foreign clients and handle credit card payments.”The ‘recruiters’ persuade staff to collect required information from the credit cards of their clients and hand it over to a contact person at a later stage.The recruiters win co-operation by impressing staff members with expensive clothes, watches or even cars and tempting them with a promise of a better life, often offering five-figure rewards.”As far as is known, the scam has so far resulted in damage of more than a million Namibia dollars, according Gondwana.Kanzler stated that Gondwana staff members handling credit cards have been instructed that they may not under any circumstances take hold of any credit cards, and that the swiping of cards must be done by clients themselves.A 29-year-old suspect, Generation Basson, appeared in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in connection with the alleged scam on Monday.Facing a charge of fraud, alternatively theft, Basson was granted bail of N$5 000.He has to appear in court again on January 20.