Here's the reality that will bite you in the pocket (amongst other places) when someone uses a "skimming" device with your credit card! Be careful out there folks - be aware and that way you can protect yourself and your possessions.

Regards
Nikki


October 17 2006 at 10:37AM


By Sholain GovenderA credit card fraudster who fleeced patrons of the Dros restaurant in Hatfield, Pretoria to the tune of R77 000 was on Monday sent to jail for three years.Hilton Brain Madzira, 21, appeared in the Pretoria commercial crimes court and pleaded guilty to 13 counts of fraud.He was also charged with contravening the Immigration Act by being in South Africa without a resident's permit or valid passport.
Madzira has a one-year-old child in Zimbabwe and is his family's sole breadwinner, a fact that magistrate Desmond Nair said he took into account when considering the sentence.Madzira admitted defrauding customers of the Dros restaurant in Hatfield in May this year while working there as a waiter.
Nair said he used a skimming device which was able to access and store credit card security information. This enabled Madzira, with the help of a syndicate he was part of, to reproduce those credit cards and buy goods with the fake cards."The accused abused a position of trust," said Nair. Because many waiters were now being used by syndicates to commit such crimes, there was a duty to "send out a message that the courts will not tolerate such activities".
· Madzira was also fined R5 000.
o This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on October 17, 2006