Rapped for cloned card use

A MAN who tried to buy a laptop with a cloned bank card was given a fiveyear suspended jail sentence by the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Cape Town yesterday.

Sihle Dzingwa, 24, appeared before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg, who declared the bank card forfeit to the State, and ordered that it be destroyed in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act.

Dzingwa pleaded guilty to charges of fraud, forgery and a violation of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act.

During plea bargaining, prosecutor Zama Matayi said the public was outraged over rampant ATM fraud and the frequent use of cloned or stolen bank cards for consumer purchases.

According to the plea bargain document, the laptop transaction took place at the Brackenfell branch of the CNA.

The document told how CNA cashier Sharone Thysse alerted the police when the bank declined the bank card purchase.

Dzingwa, who holds a certificate in business administration, was arrested while still on the CNA premises.

According to the document, the card had been lawfully issued to Knysna resident Trent Read.

Dzingwa told the court he had been involved in the illegal accessing of bank card information, either through the unlawful use of a skimming device or by distracting people at ATMs.

He said he had skimmed Read’s card with the intention of making duplicate credit cards or debit cards. – Sapa